"LIB  R.AR.Y 

OF  THE 

U  N  IVE.R.SITY 
OF    ILLINOIS 

$17.381 
7838 


IIUNOIS  HISTORICAL  SURVEY 


RECORD 


i^lr 
—OF— 


CHRISTIAN  COUNTY, 

ILLINOIS. 


CONTAINING 


Biographical  Sketches  of  Prominent  and  Representative  Citizens, 

Together  with  Biographies  of  all  the 

lovernors  °nhe  Itate,  and  °f  «ie  Iresidents 


OF=  THE  UNITED  STMTES. 


LAKE    CITY    PUBLISHING     CO. 

CHICAGO: 

1893 


97  T. 


}HE  greatest  of  English  historians,  MACAULAY,  and  one  of  the  most  brilliant  writers  ot 
the  present  century,  has  said :  "The  history  of  a  country  is  best  told  in  a  record  of  the 
lives  of  its  people."  In  conformity  with  this  idea  the  PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL 
RECORD  i0f  ^is  county  has  been  prepared.  Instead  of  going  to  musty  records,  and 
taking  therefrom  dry  statistical  matter  that  can  be  appreciated  by  but  few,  oui 
corps  of  writers  have  gone  to  the  people,  the  men  and  women  who  have,  by  theii 
enterprise  and  industry,  brought  the  county  to  rank  second  to  none  among  those 
comprising  this  great  and  noble  State,  and  from  their  lips  have  the  story  of  their  life 
struggles.  No  more  interesting  or  instructive  matter  could  be  presented  to  an  intelli- 
gent public.  In  this  volume  will  be  found  a  record  of  many  whose  lives  are  worthy  the 
imitation  of  coming  generations.  It  tells  how  some,  commencing  life  in  poverty,  by 
industry  and  economy  have  accumulated  wealth.  It  tells  how  others,  with  limited 
advantages  for  securing  an  education,  have  become  learned  men  and  women,  with  an 
influence  extending  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land.  It  tells  of  men  who 
have  risen  from  the  lower  walks  of  life  to  eminence  as  statesmen,  and  whose  names  have 
become  famous.  It  tells  of  those  in  every  walk  in  life  who  have  striven  to  succeed,  and 
records  how  that  success  has  usually  crowned  their  efforts.  It  tells  also  of  many,  very 
many,  who,  not  seeking  the  applause  of  the  world,  have  pursued  "the  even  tenor  of  their  way,"  content 
to  have  it  said  of  them  as  Christ  said  of  the  woman  performing  a  deed  of  mercy — "they  have  done  what 
they  could."  It  tells  how  that  many  in  the  pride  and  strength  of  young  manhood  left  the  plow  and  the 
anvil,  the  lawyer's  office  and  the  counting-room,  left  every  trade  and  profession,  and  at  their  country's 
call  went  forth  valiantly  "to  do  or  die,"  and  how  through  their  efforts  the  Union  was  restored  and  peace 
once  more  reigned  in  the  land.  In  the  life  of  every  man  and  of  every  woman  is  a  lesson  that  should  not 
be  lost  upon  those  who  follow  after. 

Coming  generations  will  appreciate  this  volume  and  preserve  it  as  a  sacred  treasure,  from  the  fact 
that  it  contains  so  much  that  would  never  find  its  way  into  public  records,  and  which  would  otherwise  be 
inaccessible.  Great  care  has  been  taken  in  the  compilation  of  the  work  and  every  opportunity  possible 
given  to  those  represented  to  insure  correctness  in  what  has  been  written,  and  the  publishers  flatter  them- 
selves that  they  give  to  their  readers  a  work  with  few  errors  of  consequence.  In  addition  to  the  biograph 
ical  sketches,  portraits  of  a  number  of  representative  citizens  are  given. 

The  faces  of  some,  and  biographical  sketches  of  many,  will  be  missed  in  this  volume.  For  this  the 
publishers  are  not  to  blame.  Not  having  a  proper  conception  of  the  work,  some  refused  to  give  the 
information  necessary  to  compile  a  sketch,  while  others  were  indifferent.  Occasionally  some  member  of 
the  family  would  oppose  the  enterprise,  and  on  account  of  such  opposition  the  support  of  the  interested 
one  would  be  withheld.  In  a  few  instances  men  could  never  be  found,  though  repeated  calls  were  made 
at  their  residence  or  place  of  business. 

November,  1893.  LAKE  CITY  PUBLISHING  Co. 


775679 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS, 


AND  OF  THE 


ft*  Llbrirj 

of  th« 
•I  IMi 


FfJtST  PRESIDENT. 


HE  Father  of  our  Country  was 
born  in  Westmorland  Co.,  Va., 
Feb.    22,   1732.     His  parents 
were    Augustine    and    Mary 
(Ball)  Washington.  The  family 
to  which  he  belonged  has  not 
been    satisfactorily  traced    in 
England.      His    great-grand- 
father, John  Washington,  em- 
igrated to  Virginia  about  1657, 
and    became     a     prosperous 
planter.      He  had   two   sons, 
Lawrence    and    John.      The 
former  married   Mildred    Warner 
and    had    three    children,    John, 
Augustine  and  Mildred.      Augus- 
tine,  the   father  of   George,  first 
married    Jane   Butler,    who    bore 
him  four  children,  two  of  whom, 
Lawrence  and  Augustine,  reached 
maturity.     Of  six  children  by  his 
second  marriage,  George  was  the 
eldest,   the    others    being    Betty, 
Samuel,  John  Augustine,  Charles 
and  Mildred. 

Augustine  Washington,  the  father  of  George,  died 
in  1743,  leaving  a  large  landed  property.  To  his 
eldest  son,  Lawrence,  he  bequeathed  an  estate  on 
the  Patomac,  afterwards  known  as  Mount  Vernon, 
and  to  George  he  left  the  parental  residence.  George 
received  only  such  education  as  the  neighborhood 
schools  afforded,  save  for  a  short  time  after  he  left 
school,  when  he  received  private  instruction  in 
mathematics.  His  spelling  was  rather  defective 


Remarkable  stories  are  told  of  his  great  physica 
strength  and  development  at  an  early  age.  He  was 
an  acknowledged  leader  among  his  companions,  and 
was  early  noted  for  that  nobleness  of  character,  fair- 
ness and  veracity  which  characterized  his  whole  life. 

When  George  was  1 4  years  old  he  had  a  desire  to  go  to 
sea,  and  a  midshipman's  warrant  was  secured  for  him, 
but  through  the  opposition  of  his  mother  the  idea  was 
abandoned.  Two  years  later  he  was  appointed 
surveyor  to  the  immense  estate  of  Lord  Fairfax.  In 
this  business  he  spent  three  years  in  a  rough  frontier 
life,  gaining  experience  which  afterwards  proved  very 
essential  to  him.  In  1751,  though  only  19  years  of 
age,  he  was  appointed  adjutant  with  the  rank  of 
major  in  the  Virginia  militia,  then  being  trained  for 
active  service  against  the  French  and  Indians.  Soon 
after  this  he  sailed  to  the  West  Indies  with  his  brother 
Lawrence,  who  went  there  to  restore  his  health.  They 
soon  returned,  and  in  the  summer  of  1752  Lawrence 
died,  leaving  a  large  fortune  to  an  infant  daughter 
who  did  not  long  survive  him.  On  her  demise  the 
estate  of  Mount  Vernon  was  given  to  George. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  Robert  Dinwiddie,  as  Lieutcn- 
ant-Governor  of  Virginia,  in  1752,  the  militia  was 
reorganized,  and  the  province  divided  into  four  mili- 
tary districts,  of  which  the  northern  was  assigned  to 
Washington  as  adjutant  general.  Shortly  after  this 
a  very  perilous  mission  was  assigned  him  and  ac- 
cepted, which  others  had  refused.  This  was  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  French  post  near  Lake  Erie  in  North- 
western Pennsylvania.  The  distance  to  be  traversed 
was  between  500  and  600  miles.  Winter  was  at  hand, 
and  the  journey  was  to  be  made  without  military 
escort,  through  a  territory  occupied  by  Indians.  The 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 


trip  was  a  perilous  one,  and  several  times  he  came  near 
losing  his  life,  yet  he  returned  in  safety  and  furnished 
a  full  and  useful  report  of  his  expedition.  A  regiment 
of  300  men  was  raised  in  Virginia  and  put  in  com- 
mand of  Col.  Joshua  Fry,  and  Major  Washington  was 
commissioned  lieutenant-colonel.  Active  war  was 
then  begun  against  the  French  and  Indians,  in  which 
Washington  took  a  most  important  part.  In  the 
memorable  event  of  July  9,  1755,  known  as  Brad- 
dock's  defeat,  Washington  was  almost  the  only  officer 
of  distinction  who  escaped  from  the  calamities  of  the 
day  with  life  and  honor.  The  other  aids  of  Braddock 
«vere  disabled  early  in  the  action,  and  Washington 
alone  was  left  in  that  capacity  on  the  field.  In  a  letter 
to  his  brother  he  says :  "  I  had  four  bullets  through 
my  coat,  and  two  horses  shot  under  me,  yet  I  escaped 
unhurt,  though  death  was  leveling;  my  companions 
on  every  side."  An  Indian  sharpshooter  said  he  was 
not  born  to  be  killed  by  a  bullet,  for  he  had  taken 
direct  aim  at  him  seventeen  times,  and  failed  to  hit 
him. 

After  having  been  five  years  in  the  military  service, 
and  vainly  sought  promotion  in  the  royal  army,  he 
took  advantage  of  the  fall  of  Fort  Duquesne  and  the 
expulsion  of  the  French  from  the  valley  of  the  Ohio, 
to  resign  his  commission.  Soon  after  he  entered  the 
Legislature,  where,  although  not  a  leader,  he  took  an 
active  and  important  part.  January  17,  1759,  he 
married  Mrs.  Martha  (Dandridge)  Custis,  the  wealthy 
widow  of  John  Parke  Custis. 

When  the  British  Parliament  had  closed  the  port 
of  Boston,  the  cry  went  up  throughout  the  provinces 
that  "The  cause  of  Boston  is  the  cause  of  us  all." 
It  was  then,  at  the  suggestion  of  Virginia,  that  a  Con- 
gress of  all  the  colonies  was  called  to  meet  at  Phila- 
delphia,Sept.  5,  1774,  to  secure  their  common  liberties, 
peaceably  if  possible.  To  this  Congress  Col.  Wash- 
ington was  sent  as  a  delegate.  On  May  10,  1775,  the 
Congress  re-assembled,  when  the  hostile  intentions  of 
England  were  plainly  apparent.  The  battles  of  Con- 
cord and  Lexington  had  been  fought.  Among  the 
first  acts  of  this  Congress  was  the  election  of  a  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  colonial  forces.  This  high  and 
responsible  office  was  conferred  upon  Washington, 
who  was  still  a  member  of  the  Congress.  He  accepted 
it  on  June  19,  but  upon  the  express  condition  that  he 
receive  no  salary.  He  would  keep  an  exact  account 
of  expenses  and  expect  Congress  to  pay  them  and 
nothing  more.  It  is  not  the  object  of  this  sketch  to 
trace  the  military  acts  of  Washington,  to  whom  the 
fortunes  and  liberties  of  the  people  of  this  country 
were  so  long  confided.  The  war  was  conducted  by 
him  under  every  possible  disadvantage,  and  while  his 
forces  often  met  with  reverses,  yet  he  overcame  every 
obstacle,  and  after  seven  years  of  heroic  devotion 
and  matchless  skill  he  gained  liberty  for  the  greatest 
nation  of  earth.  On  Dec.  23,  1783,  Washington,  in 
a  parting  address  of  surpassing  beauty,  resigned  his 


commission  as  Commander-in-chief  of  the  army  t< 
to  the  Continental  Congress  sitting  at  Annapolis.  Hi 
retired  immediately  to  Mount  Vernon  and  resumec 
his  occupation  as  a  farmer  and  planter,  shunning  all 
connection  with  public  life. 

In  February,i789,  Washington  was  unanimously 
elected  President.  In  his  presidential  career  he  wa: 
subject  to  the  peculiar  trials  incidental  to  a  new 
government ;  trials  from  lack  of  confidence  on  the  pan 
of  other  governments ;  trials  from  want  of  harmonj 
between  the  different  sections  of  our  own  country 
trials  from  the  impoverished  condition  of  the  country 
owing  to  the  war  and  want  of  credit;  trials  from  the 
beginnings  of  party  strife.  He  was  no  partisan.  Hi; 
clear  judgment  could  discern  the  golden  mean  ;  anc 
while  perhaps  this  alone  kept  our  government  front 
sinking  at  the  very  outset,  it  left  him  exposed  tc 
attacks  from  both  sides,  which  were  often  bitter  anc 
very  annoying. 

At  the  expiration  of  his  first  term  he  was  unani 
mously  re-elected.  At  the  end  of  this  term  mani 
were  anxious  that  he  be  re-elected,  but  he  absolute!) 
refused  a  third  nomination.  On  the  fourth  of  March 
1797,  at  the  expiraton  of  his  second  term  as  Presi- 
dent, he  returned  to  his  home,  hoping  to  pass  then 
his  few  remaining  years  free  from  the  annoyances  o 
public  life.  Later  in  the  year,  however,  his  repos( 
seemed  likely  to  be  interrupted  by  war  with  France 
At  the  prospect  of  such  a  war  he  was  again  urged  t( 
take  command  of  the  armies.  He  chose  his  sub. 
ordinate  officers  and  left  to  them  the  charge  of  mat 
ters  in  the  field,  which  he  superintended  from  hi; 
home.  In  accepting  the  command  he  made  tht 
reservation  that  he  was  not  to  be  in  the*  field  unti 
it  was  necessary.  In  the  midst  of  these  preparation; 
his  life  was  suddenly  cut  off.  December  1 2,  he  tool 
a  severe  cold  from  a  ride  in  the  rain,  which,  settling 
in  his  throat,  produced  inflammation,  and  terminatec 
fatally  on  the  night  of  the  fourteenth.  On  the  eigh- 
teenth his  body  was  borne  with  military  honors  to  it; 
final  resting  place,  and  interred  in  the  family  vault  at 
Mount  Vernon. 

Of  the  character  of  Washington  it  is  impossible  tc 
speak  but  in  terms  of  the  highest  respect  and  ad- 
miration. The  more  we  see  of  the  operations  o; 
our  government,  and  the  more  deeply  we  feel  the 
difficulty  of  uniting  all  opinions  in  a  common  interest 
the  more  highly  we  must  estimate  the  force  of  his  tal- 
ent and  character,  which  have  be*n  able  to  challenge 
the  reverence  of  all  parties,  and  principles,  and  na- 
tions, and  to  win  a  fame  as  extended  as  the  limits 
of  the  globe,  and  which  we  cannot  but  believe  will 
be  as  lasting  as  the  existence  of  man. 

The  person  of  Washington  was  unusally  tan,  erect 
and  well  proportioned.  His  muscular  strength  was 
great.  His  features  were  of  a  beautiful  symmetry, 
He  commanded  respect  without  any  appearance  o) 
haughtiness,  and  ever  serious  without  V>*ingr  dull. 


DM  library 

•f  tk« 

0»    Wi 


SECON'D  'PRESIDENT. 


OHN  ADAMS,  the  second 
President  and  the  first  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States, 
was  born  in  Braintree  ( now 
Quincy  ),Mass.,  and  about  ten 
miles  from  Boston,  Oct.  19, 
1735.  His  great-grandfather,  Henry 
Adams,  emigrated  from  England 
about  1640,  with  a  family  of  eight 
J>  sons,  and  settled  at  Braintree.  The 
parents  of  John  were  John  and 
Susannah  (Boylston)  Adams.  His 
father  was  a  farmer  of  limited 
means,  to  which  he  added  the  bus- 
iness of  shoemaking.  He  gave  his 
eldest  son,  John,  a  classical  educa- 
tion at  Harvard  College.  John 
graduated  in  1755,  and  at  once  took  charge  of  the 
school  in  Worcester,  Mass.  This  he  found  but  a 
''school  of  affliction,"  from  which  he  endeavored  to 
gain  relief  by  devoting  himself,  in  addition,  to  the 
study  of  law.  For  this  purpose  he  placed  himself 
under  the  tuition  of  the  only  lawyer  in  the  town.  He 
had  thought  seriously  of  the  clerical  profession 
but  seems  to  have  been  turned  from  this  by  what  he 
termed  "  the  frightful  engines  of  ecclesiastical  coun- 
jils,  of  diabolical  malice,  and  Calvanistic  good  nature,'" 
of  the  operations  of  which  he  had  been  a  witness  in 
his  native  town.  He  was  well  fitted  for  the  legal 
profession,  possessing  a  clear,  sonorous  voice,  being 
ready  and  fluent  of  speech,  and  having  quick  percep- 
tive powers.  He  gradually  gained  practice,  and  in 
1764  married  Abigail  Smith,  a  daughter  of  a  minister, 
and  a  lady  of  superior  intelligence.  Shortly  after  his 
marriage,  (1765),  the  attempt  of  Parliamentary  taxa- 
tion turned  him  from  law  to  politics.  He  took  initial 
steps  toward  huldir.B  a  town  meeting,  and  the  resolu- 


tions  he  offered  on  the  subject  became  very  populai 
throughout  the  Province,  and  were  adopted  word  for 
word  by  over  forty  different  towns.  He  moved  to  Bos 
ton  in  1768,  and  became  one  of  the  most  courageous 
and  prominent  advocates  of  the  popular  cause,  and 
was  chosen  a  member  of  the  General  Court  (the  Leg- 
lislature)  in  1770. 

Mr.  Adams  was  chosen  one  of  the  first  delegates 
from  Massachusetts  to  the  first  Continental  Congre&s, 
which  met  in  1774.  Here  he  distinguished  himsell 
by  his  capacity  for  business  and  for  debate,  and  ad- 
vocated the  movement  for  independence  against  tb° 
majority  of  the  members.  In  May,  1776,  he  moved 
and  carried  a  resolution  in  Congress  that  the  Colonies 
should  assume  the  duties  of  self-government.  H$ 
was  a  prominent  member  of  the  committee  of  vive 
appointed  June  n,  to  prepare  a  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence. This  article  was  drawn  by  Jefferson,  but 
on  Adams  devolved  the  task  of  battling  it  through 
Congress  in  a  three  days  debate. 

On  the  day  after  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
was  passed,  while  his  soul  was  yet  warm  with  ths 
glow  of  excited  feeling,  he  wrote  a.  letter  to  his  wife 
which,  as  we  read  it  now,  seems  to  have  been  dictated 
by  the  spirit  of  prophecy.  "Yesterday,"  he  says,  "the 
greatest  question  was  decided  that  ever  was  debated 
in  America;  and  greater,  perhaps,  never  was  or  wil 
be  decided  among  men.  A  resolution  was  passed 
without  one  dissenting  colony,  '  that  these  United 
States  are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  inde- 
pendent  states.'  The  day  is  passed.  The  fourth  of 
July,  1776,  will  be  a  memorable  epoch  in  the  history 
of  America.  I  am  apt  to  believe  it  will  be  celebrated 
by  succeeding  generations,  as  the  great  anniversary 
festival.  It  ought  to  be  commemorated  as  the  day  of 
deliverance  by  solemn  acts  of  devotion  to  Almighty 
God.  It  ought  to  be  solemnized  with  pomp,  shows 


JOHN  ADAMS. 


games,  sports,  guns,  bells,  bonfires,  and  illuminations 
from  one  end  of  the  continent  to  the  other,  from  this 
time  forward  for  ever.  You  will  think  me  transported 
with  enthusiasm,  but  I  am  not.  I  am  well  aware  of 
the  toil,  and  blood  and  treasure,  that  it  will  cost  to 
maintain  this  declaration,  and  support  and  defend 
these  States;  yet,  through  all  the  gloom,  I  can  see  the 
rays  of  light  and  glory.  I  can  see  that  the  end  is 
worth  more  than  all  the  means;  and  that  posterity 
will  triumph,  although  you  and  I  may  rue,  which  I 
hope  we  shall  not." 

In  November,  1777,  Mr.  Adams  was  appointed  a 
delegate  to  France^  and  to  co-operate  with  Bemjamin 
Franklin  and  Arthur  Lee,  who  were  then  in  Paris,  in 
the  endeavor  to  obtain  assistance  in  arms  and  money 
from  the  French  Government.  This  was  a  severe  trial 
to  his  patriotism,  as  it  separated  him  from  his  home, 
compelled  him  to  cross  the  ocean  in  winter,  and  ex- 
posed him  to  great  peril  of  capture  by  the  British  cruis- 
ers, who  were  seeking  him.  He  left  France  June  17, 
1779.  In  September  of  the  same  year  he  was  again 
cliosen  to  go  to  Paris,  and  there  hold  himself  in  readi- 
ness to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  peace  and  of  commerce 
with  Great  Britian,  as  soon  as  the  British  Cabinet 
might  be  found  willing  to  listen  to  such  proposels.  He 
sailed  for  France  in  November,  from  there  he  went  to 
Holland,  where  he  negotiated  important  loans  and 
formed  important  commercial  treaties. 

Finally  a  treaty  of  peace  with  England  was  signed 
Jan.  21,  1783.  The  re-action  from  the  excitement, 
toil  and  anxiety  through  which  Mr.  Adams  had  passed 
threw  him  into  a  fever.  After  suffering  from  a  con- 
tinued fever  and  becoming  feeble  and  emaciated  he 
was  advised  to  goto  England  to  drink  the  waters  of 
Bath.  While  in  England,  still  drooping  and  despond- 
ing, he  received  dispatches  from  his  own  government 
urging  the  necessity  of  his  going  to  Amsterdam  to 
negotiate  another  loan.  It  was  winter,  his  health  was 
delicate,  yet  he  immediately  set  out,  and  through 
storm,  on  sea,  on  horseback  and  foot,he  made  the  trip. 

February  24,  1785,  Congress  appointed  Mr.  Adams 
envoy  to  the  Court  of  St.  James.  Here  he  met  face 
to  face  the  King  of  England,  who  had  so  long  re- 
garded him  as  a  traitor.  As  England  did  not 
condescend  to  appoint  a  minister  to  the  United 
States,  and  as  Mr.  Adams  felt  that  he  was  accom- 
plishing but  little,  he  sought  permission  to  return  to 
his  own  country,  where  he  arrived  in  June,  1788. 

When  Washington  was  first  chosen  President,  John 
Adams,  rendered  illustiious  by  his  signal  services  at 
home  and  abroad,  was  chosen  Vice  President.  Again 
at  the  second  election  of  Washington  as  President, 
Adams  was  chosen  Vice  President.  In  1796,  Wash- 
ington retired  from  public  life,  and  Mr.  Adams  was 
elected  President,though  not  without  much  opposition. 
Serving  in  this  office  four  years,he  was  succeeded  by 
Mr.  Jefferson,  his  opponent  in  politics. 

Wh\\e   Mr.  Adams  was  Vice  President  the  great 


French  Revolution  shook  the  continent  of  Europ 
and  it  was  upon  this  point  which  he  was  at  issue  wit 
the  majority  of  his  countrymen  led  by  Mr.  Jeffersoi 
Mr.  Adams  felt  no  sympathy  with  the  French  peopl 
in  their  struggle,  for  he  had  no  confidence  in  the 
power  of  self-government,  and  he  utterly  abhored  th 
class  of  atheist  philosophers  who  he  claimed  caused  i 
On  the  other  hand  Jefferson's  sympathies  were  strongl 
enlisted  in  behalf  of  the  French  people.  Hence  o 
iginated  the  alienation  between  "these  distinguishe 
men,  and  two  powerful  parties  were  thus  soon  orgar 
ized,  Adams  at  the  head  of  the  one  whose  sympathi« 
were  with  England  and  Jefferson  led  the  other  i 
sympathy  with  France. 

The  world  has  seldom  seen  a  spectacle  of  moi 
moral  beauty  and  grandeur,  than  was  presented  by  th 
old  age  of  Mr.  Adams.  The  violence  of  party  feelin 
had  died  away,  and  he  had  begun  to  receive  that  jui 
appreciation  which,  to  most  men,  is  not  accorded  ti 
after  death.  No  one  could  look  upon  his  venerabl 
form,  and  think  of  what  he  had  done  and  sufferec 
and  how  he  had  given  up  all  the  prime  and  stren^t 
of  his  life  to  the  public  good,  without  the  deepe; 
emotion  of  gratitude  and  respect.  It  was  his  peculij 
good  fortune  to  witness  the  complete  success  of  th 
institution  which  he  had  been  so  active  in  creating  an 
supporting.  In  r824,  his  cup  of  happiness  was  fille 
to  the  brim,  by  seeing  his  son  elevated  to  the  highe; 
station  in  the  gift  of  the  people. 

The  fourth  of  July,  1826,  which  completed  the  ha 
century  since  the  signing  of  the  Declaration  of  Ind< 
pendence,  arrived,  and  there  were  but  three  of  tb 
signers  of  that  immortal  instrument  left  upon  th 
earth  to  hail  its  morning  light.  And,  as  it  i 
well  known,  on  that  day  two  of  these  finished  the 
earthly  pilgrimage,  a  coincidence  so  remarkable  a 
to  seem  miraculous.  For  a  few  days  before  M 
Adams  had  been  rapidly  failing,  and  on  the  mornin 
of  the  fourth  he  found  himself  too  weak  to  rise  froi 
his  bed.  On  being  requested  to  name  a  toast  for  th 
customary  celebration  of  the  day,  he  exclaimed  "  Ii> 
DEPENDENCE  FOREVER."  When  the  day  was  ushere 
in,  by  the  ringing  of  bells  and  the  firing  of  cannon 
he  was  asked  by  one  of  his  attendants  if  he  kne' 
what  day  it  was?  He  replied,  "O  yes;  it  is  the  glo: 
ions  fourth  of  July — God  bless  it — God  bless  you  all 
In  the  course  of  the  day  he  said,  "It  is  a  great  an 
glorious  day."  The  last  words  he  uttered  wer 
"Jefferson  survives."  But  he  had,  at  one  o'clock,  r< 
signed  his  spirit  into  the  hands  of  his  God. 

The  personal  appearance  and  manners  of  M 
Adams  were  not  particularly  prepossessing.  Hisfaci 
as  his  portrait  manifests,was  intellectual  ard  exprei 
sive,  but  his  figure  was  low  and  ungraceful,  and  h> 
manners  were  frequently  abrupt  and  uncourteou! 
He  had  neither  the  lofty  dignity  of  Washington,  nc 
the  engaging  elegance  and  gracefulness  which  marke 
the  manners  and  address  of  Jefferson. 


•»  the 


THIRD  PRESIDENT. 


1P1I  DMAS  JEFFE  IRS  OK 


HOMAS  JEFFERSON  was 
born  April  2,  1743,  at  Shad- 
well,  Albermarle  county,  Va. 
His  parents  were  Peter  and 
Jane  (  Randolph)  Jefferson, 
the  former  a  native  of  Wales, 
and  the  latter  born  in  Lon- 
don. To  them  were  born  six 
daughters  and  two  sons,  of 
whom  Thomas  was  the  elder. 
When  14  years  of  age  his 
father  died.  He  received  a 
most  liberal  education,  hav- 
ing been  kept  diligently  at  school 
from  the  time  he  was  five  years  of 
age.  In  1760  he  entered  William 
end  Mary  College.  Williamsburg  was  then  the  seat 
of  the  Colonial  Court,  and  it  was  the  obode  of  fashion 
and  splendor.  Young  Jefferson,  who  was  then  17 
years  old,  lived  somewhat  expensively,  keeping  fine 
horses,  and  much  caressed  by  gay  society,  yet  he 
was  earnestly  devoted  to  his  studies,  and  irreproacha- 
able  in  his  morals.  It  is  strange,  however,  under 
such  influences,that  he  was  not  ruined.  In  the  sec- 
ond year  of  his  college  course,  moved  by  some  un- 
explained inward  impulse,  he  discarded  his  horses, 
society,  and  even  his  favorite  violin,  to  which  he  had 
previously  given  much  time.  He  often  devoted  fifteen 
hours  a  day  to  hard  study,  allowing  himself  for  ex- 
ercise only  a  run  in  the  evening  twilight  of  a  mile  out 
of  the  city  and  back  again.  He  thus  attained  very 
high  intellectual  culture,  alike  excellence  in  philoso- 
phy and  the  languages.  The  most  difficult  Latin  and 
Greek  authors  he  read  with  facility.  A  more  finished 
scholar  has  seldom  gone  forth  from  college  halls ;  and 


there  was  not  to  be  found,  perhaps,  in  all  Virginia,  a 
more  pureminded,  upright,  gentlemanly  young  man. 

Immediately  upon  leaving  college  he  began  the 
study  of  law.  For  the  short  time  he  continued  in  the 
practice  of  his  profession  he  rose  rapidly  and  distin- 
guished himself  by  his  energy  and  accuteness  as  a 
lawyer.  But  the  times  called  for  greater  action. 
The  policy  of  England  had  awakened  the  spirit  of 
resistance  of  the  American  Colonies,  and  the  enlarged 
views  which  Jefferson  had  ever  entertained,  soon  led 
him  into  active  political  life.  In  1769  he  was  chosen 
a  member  of  the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses.  In, 
1772  he  married  Mrs.  Martha  Skelton,  a  very  beauti- 
ful, wealthy  and  highly  accomplished  young  widow 

Upon  Mr.  Jefferson's  large  estate  at  Shad  well,  there 
was  a  majestic  swell  of  land,  called  Monticello,  which 
commanded  a  prospect  of  wonderful  extent  and 
beauty.  This  spot  Mr.  Jefferson  selected  lor  his  new 
home;  and  here  he  reared  a  mansion  of  modest  yet 
elegant  architecture,  which,  next  to  Mount  Vernon 
became  the  most  distinguished  resort  in  our  land. 

In  1775  he  was  sent  to  the  Colonial  Congress, 
where,  though  a  silent  member,  his  abilities  as  a 
writer  and  a  reasoner  soon  become  known,  and  he 
was  placed  upon  a  number  of  important  committees, 
and  was  chairman  of  the  one  appointed  for  the  draw- 
ing up  of  a  declaration  of  independence.  This  com- 
mittee consisted  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  John  Adams, 
Benjamin  Franklin,  Roger  Sherman  and  Robert  R. 
Livingston.  Jefferson,  as  chairman,  was  appointed 
to  draw  up  the  paper.  Franklin  and  Adams  suggested 
a  few  verbal  changes  before  it  was  submitted  to  Con- 
gress. On  June  28,  a  few  slight  changes  were  made 
in  it  by  Congress,  and  it  was  passed  and  signed  July 
4,  1776.  What  must  have  been  the  feelings  of  that 


28 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 


man — what  the  emotions  that  swelled  his  breast— 
Who  was  charged  with  the  preparation  of  that  Dec- 
laration, which,  while  it  made  known  the  wrongs  of 
America,  was  also  to  publish  her  to  the  world,  free, 
Boverign  and  independent.  It  is  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable papers  ever  written  ;  and  did  no  other  effort 
of  the  mind  of  its  author  exist,  that  alone  would  be 
sufficient  to  stamp  his  name  with  immortality. 

In  1779  Mr.  Jefferson  was  elected  successor  to 
Patrick  Henry,  as  Governor  of  Virginia.  At  one  time 
the  British  officer,  Tarleton,  sent  a  secret  expedition  to 
Moniicello,  to  capture  the  Governor.  Scarcely  five 
minutes  elapsed  after  the  hurried  escape  of  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson and  his  family,  ere  his  mansion  was  in  posses- 
sion of  the  British  troops.  His  wife's  health,  never 
very  good,  was  much  injured  by  this  excitement,  and 
in  the  summer  of  1782  she  died. 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  elected  to  Congress  in  1783. 
Two  yeirs  later  he  was  appointed  Minister  Plenipo- 
tentiary to  France.  Returning  to  the  United  States 
in  September,  1789,  he  became  Secretary  of  State 
in  Washington's  cabinet.  This  position  he  resigned 
Jan.  i,  1794.  In  1797,  he  was  chosen  Vice  Presi- 
dent, and  four  years  later  was  elected  President  over 
Mr.  Adams,  with  Aaron  Burr  as  Vice  President.  In 
1804  he  was  re-elected  with  wonderful  unanimity, 
and  George  Clinton,  Vice  President. 

The  early  part  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  second  adminstra- 
tion  was  disturbed  by  an  event  which  threatened  the 
tranquility  and  peace  of  the  Union;  this  was  the  con- 
spiracy of  Aaron  Burr.  Defeated  in  the  late  election 
to  the  Vice  Presidency,  and  led  on  by  an  unprincipled 
ambition,  this  extraordinary  man  formed  the  plan  of  a 
military  expedition  into  the  Spanish  territories  on  our 
southwestern  frontier,  for  the  purpose  of  forming  there 
a  new  republic.  This  has  been  generally  supposed 
was  a  mere  pretext ;  and  although  it  has  not  been 
generally  known  what  his  real  plans  were,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  they  were  of  a  far  more  dangerous 
character. 

In  1809,  at  the  expiration  of  the  second  term  for 
which  Mr.  Jefferson  had  been  elected,  he  determined 
to  retire  from  political  life.  For  a  period  of  nearly 
forty  years,  he  had  been  continually  before  the  pub- 
lic, and  all  that  time  had  been  employed  in  offices  of 
the  greatest  trust  and  responsibility.  Having  thus  de- 
voted the  best  part  of  his  life  to  the  service  of  his 
country,  he  now  felt  desirous  of  that  rest  which  his 
declining  years  required,  and  upon  the  organization  of 
the  new  administration,  in  March,  r8og,  he  bid  fare- 
well forever  to  public  life,  and  retired  to  Monticello. 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  profuse  in  his  hospitality.  Whole 
families  came  in  their  coaches  with  their  horses, — 
fathers  and  mothers,  boys  and  girls,  babies  and 
nurses, — and  remained  three  and  even  six  months. 
Life  at  Monticello,  for  years,  resembled  that  at  a 
fashionable  watering-place. 

The  fourth  of  July,  1826,  being  the  fiftieth  anniver- 


sary of  the  Declaration  of  American  Independenc 
great  preparations  were  made  in  every  part  of  tl 
Union  for  its  celebration,  as  the  nation's  jubilee,  ar 
the  citizens  of  Washington,  to  add  to  the  solemni 
of  the  occasion,  invited  Mr.  Jefferson,  as  the  frame 
and  one  of  the  few  surviving  signers  of  the  Declar; 
tion,  to  participate  in  their  festivities.  But  an  il 
ness,  which  had  been  of  several  weeks  duration,  ar 
had  been  continually  increasing,  compelled  him 
decline  the  invitation. 

On  the  second  of  July,  the  disease  under  whic 
he  was  laboring  left  him,  but  in  such  a  reduce 
state  that  his  medical  attendants,  entertained  r 
hope  of  his  recovery.  From  this  time  he  was  perfect! 
sensible  that  his  last  hour  was  at  hand.  On  the  ne; 
day,  which  was  Monday,  he  asked  of  those  aroun 
him,  the  day  of  the  month,  and  on  being  told  it  w£ 
the  third  of  July,  he  expresied  the  earnest  wish  th; 
he  might  be  permitted  to  breathe  the  airof  the  fiftiet 
anniversary.  His  prayer  was  heard — that  day,  whos 
dawn  was  hailed  with  such  rapture  through  our  lam 
burst  upon  his  eyes,  and  then  they  were  closed  fo 
ever.  And  what  a  noble  consummation  of  a  nobl 
life!  To  die  on  that  day, — the  birthday  of  a  nation,- 
the  day  which  his  own  name  and  his  own  act  ha 
rendered  glorious;  to  die  amidst  the  rejoicings  an 
festivities  of  a  whole  nation,  who  looked  up  to  hin 
as  the  author,  under  God,  of  their  greatest  blessing 
was  all  that  was  wanting  to  fill  up  the  record  his  lifi 

Almost  at  the  same  hour  of  his  death,  the  kir 
dred  spirit  of  the  venerable  Adams,  as  if  to  be; 
him  company,  left  the  scene  of  his  earthly  honor: 
Hand  in  hand  they  had  stood  forth,  the  champions  ( 
freedom;  hand  in  hand,  during  the  dark  and  despei 
ate  struggle  of  the  Revolution,  they  had  cheered  an 
animated  their  desponding  countrymen;  for  half 
century  they  had  labored  together  for  the  good  c 
the  country;  and  now  hand  in  hand  they  depar 
In  their  lives  they  had  been  united  in  the  same  gres 
cause  of  liberty,  and  in  their  deaths  they  were  nc 
divided. 

In  person  Mr.  Jefferson  was  tall  and  thin,  rathe 
above  six  feet  in  height,  but  well  formed;  his  eye 
were  light,  his  hair  originally  red,  in  after  life  becam 
white  and  silvery;  his  complexion  was  fair,  his  fore 
head  broad,  and  his  whole  countenance  intelligent  an 
thoughtful.  He  possessed  great  fortitude  of  mind  a 
well  as  personal  courage ;  and  r.:s  command  of  tem 
per  was  such  that  his  oldest  and  most  intimate  friend 
never  recollected  to  have  seen  him  in  a  passior 
His  manners,  though  dignified,  were  simple  and  un 
affected,  and  his  hospitality  was  so  unbounded  tha 
all  found  at  his  house  a  ready  welcome.  In  convei 
sation  he  was  fluent,  eloquent  and  enthusiastic  ;  an 
his  language  was  remarkably  pure  and  correct.  H 
was  a  finished  classical  scholar,  and  in  his  writings  i 
discernable  the  care  with  which  he  formed  his  styl 
upon  the  best  models  of  antiquity. 


if  the 
of  I 


„ 


FOURTH  PRESIDENT. 


AMES    MADISON,    "Father 
of  the  Constitution,"  and  fourth 
President  of  the  United  States, 
was  born  March  16,  1757,  and 
died  .at  his  home  in  Virginia, 
June  28,  1836.     The  name  of 
James  Madison  is  inseparably  con- 
nected with  most  of  the  important 
events  in  that  heroic  period  of  our 
country  during  which  the  founda- 
tions of  this  great   republic  were 
laid.  He  was  the  last  of  the  founders 
of  the   Constitution   of  the    United 
States  to   be   called   to   his   eternal 
reward. 

The  Madison  family  were  among 
the  early  emigrants  to  the  New  World, 
landing  upon  the  shores  of  the  Chesa- 
peake but  15  years  after   the    settle- 
ment of  Jamestown.     The  father  of 
James    Madison    was    an     opulent 
planter,  residing  upon  a  very  fine  es- 
tate called  "Montpelier,"  Orange  Co., 
Va.     The  mansion  was  situated  in 
(i&jffl       the   midst  of  scenery  highly  pictur- 
esque and  romantic,  on  the  west  side 
of  South-west  Mountain,  at  the  foot  of 
Blue  Ridge.     It  was  but  25  miles  from  the  home  of 
Jefferson  at  Monticello.     The   closest   personal   and 
political  attachment  existed  between  these  illustrious 
men,  from  their  early  youth  until  death. 

The  early  education  of  Mr.  Madison  was  conducted 
mostly  at  home  under  a  private  tutor.  At  the  age  of 
18  he  was  sent  to  Princeton  College,  in  New  Jersey. 
Here  he  applied  himself  to  study  with  the  most  im- 


prudent zeal ;  allowing  himself,  for  months,  but  three 
hours'  sleep  out  of  the  24.  His  health  thus  became  so 
seriously  impaired  that  he  never  recovered  any  vigor 
of  constitution.  He  graduated  in  1771,  with  a  feeble 
body,  with  a  character  of  utmost  purity,  and  with  a 
mind  highly  disciplined  and  richly  stored  with  learning 
which  embellished  and  gave  proficiency  to  his  subsf  - 
quent  career. 

Returning  to  Virginia,  he  commenced  the  study  of 
law  and  a  course  of  extensive  and  systematic  reading. 
This  educational  course,  the  spirit  of  the  times  in 
which  he  lived,  and  the  society  with  which  he  asso- 
ciated, all  combined  to  inspire  him  with  a  strong 
love  of  liberty,  and  to  train  him  for  his  life-work  ot 
a  statesman.  Being  naturally  of  a  religious  turn  of 
mind,  and  his  frail  health  leading  him  to  think  that 
his  life  was  not  to  be  long,  he  directed  especial  atten- 
tion to  theological  studies.  Endowed  with  a  mind 
singularly  free  from  passion  and  prejudice,  and  with 
almost  unequalled  powers  of  reasoning,  he  weighed 
all  the  arguments  for  and  against  revealed  religion, 
until  his  faith  became  so  established  as  never  to 
be  shaken. 

In  the  spring  of  1776,  when  26  years  of  age,  he 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Convention,  to 
frame  the  constitution  of  the  State.  The  next  year 
(r777),  he  was  a  candidate  for  the  General  Assembly. 
He  refused  to  treat  the  whisky-loving  voters,  and 
consequently  lost  his  election ;  but  those  who  had 
witnessed  the  talent,  energy  and  public  spirit  of  the 
modest  young  man,  enlisted  themselves  in  his  behalf, 
and  he  was  appointed  to  the  Executive  Council. 

Both  Patrick  Henry  and  Thomas  Jefferson  were 
Governors  of  Virginia  while  Mr.  Madison  remained 
member  of  the  Council ;  and  their  appreciation  of  his 


JAMES  MADISON. 


intellectual,  social  and  moral  worth,  contributed  not 
a  little  to  his  subsequent  eminence.  In  the  year 
1780,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Continental 
Congress.  Here  he  met  the  most  illustrious  men  in 
our  land,  and  he  was  immediately  assigned  to  one  of 
the  most  conspicuous  positions  among  them. 

For  three  years  Mr.  Madison  continued  in  Con- 
gress, one  of  its  most  active  and  influential  members. 
In  the  year  1784,  his  term  having  expired,  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Legislature. 

No  man  felt  more  deeply  than  Mr.  Madison  the 
utter  inefficiency  of  the  old  confederacy,  with  no  na- 
tional government,  with  no  power  to  form  treaties 
which  would  be  binding,  or  to  enforce  law.  There 
was  not  any  State  more  prominent  than  Virginia  in 
the  declaration,  that  an  efficient  national  government 
must  be  formed.  In  January,  1786,  Mr.  Madison 
carried  a  resolution  through  the  General  Assembly  of 
Virginia,  inviting  the  other  States  to  appoint  commis- 
sioners to  meet  in  convention  at  Annapolis  to  discuss 
this  subject.  Five  States  only  were  represented.  The 
convention,  however,  issued  another  call,  drawn  up 
by  Mr.  Madison,  urging  all  the  States  to  send  their 
delegates  to  Philadelphia,  in  May,  1787,  to  draft 
a  Constitution  for  the  United  States,  to  take  the  place 
of  that  Confederate  League.  The  delegates  met  at 
the  time  appointed.  Every  State  but  Rhode  Island 
<*as  represented.  George  Washington  was  chosen 
president  of  the  convention ;  and  the  present  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States  was  then  and  there  formed. 
There  was,  perhaps,  no  mind  and  no  pen  more  ac- 
tive in  framing  this  immortal  document  than  the  mind 
and  the  pen  of  James  Madison. 

The  Constitution,  adopted  by  a  vote  81  to  79,  was 
to  be  presented  to  the  several  'States  for  acceptance. 
But  grave  solicitude  was  felt.  Should  it  be  rejected 
we  should  be  left  but  a  conglomeration  of  independent 
States,  with  but  little  power  at  home  and  little  respect 
abroad,  Mr.  Madison  was  selected  by  the  conven- 
tion to  draw  up  an  address  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  expounding  the  principles  of  the  Constitution, 
and  urging  its  adoption.  There  was  great  opposition 
to  it  at  first,  but  it  at  length  triumphed  over  all,  and 
went  into  effect  in  1789. 

Mr.  Madison  was  elected  to  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives in  the  first  Congress,  and  soon  became  the 
avowed  leader  of  the  Republican  party.  While  in 
New  York  attending  Congress,  he  met  Mrs.  Todd,  a 
young  widow  of  remarkable  power  of  fascination, 
whom  he  married.  She  was  in  person  and  character 
queenly,  and  probably  no  lady  has  thus  far  occupied 
so  prominent  a  position  in  the  very  peculiar  society 
which  has  constituted  our  republican  court  as  Mrs. 
Madison. 

Mr.  Madison  served  as  Secretary  of  State  under 
Jefferson,  and  at  the  close  of  his  administration 
was  chosen  President.  At  this  time  tbe  encroach- 
ments of  England  had  brought  us  to  the  verge  of  war. 


British  orders  in  council  destioyed  our  commerce,  and 
our  flag  was  exposed  to  constant  insult.  Mr.  Madison 
was  a  man  of  peace.  Scholarly  in  his  taste,  retiring 
in  his  disposition,  war  had  no  charms  for  him.  But  the 
meekest  spirit  can  be  roused.  It  makes  one's  blood 
boil,  even  now,  to  think  of  an  American  ship  brought 
to,  upon  the  ocean,  by  the  guns  of  an  English  cruiser. 
A  young  lieutenant  steps  on  board  and  orders  the 
crew  to  be  paraded  before  him.  With  great  nonchal- 
ance he  selects  any  number  whom  he  may  please  to 
designate  as  British  subjects ;  orders  them  down  the 
ship's  side  into  his  boat ;  and  places  them  on  the  gun- 
deck  of  his  man-of-war,  to  fight,  by  compulsion,  the 
battles  of  England.  This  right  of  search  and  im- 
pressment, no  efforts  of  our  Government  could  induce 
the  British  cabinet  to  relinquish. 

On  the  1 8th  of  June,  1812,  President  Madison  gave 
his  approval  to  an  act  of  Congress  declaring  war 
against  Great  Britain.  Notwithstanding  the  bitter 
hostility  of  the  Federal  party  to  the  war,  the  country 
in  general  approved;  and  Mr.  Madison,  on  the  4th 
of  March,  igi3>  was  re-elected  by  a  large  majority, 
and  entered  upon  his  second  term  of  office.  This  is 
not  the  place  to  describe  the  various  adventures  of 
this  war  on  the  land  and  on  the  water.  Our  infan'. 
navy  then  laid  the  foundations  of  its  renown  in  grap- 
pling with  the  most  formidable  power  which  ever 
swept  the  seas.  The  contest  commenced  in  earnest 
by  the  appearance  of  a  British  fleet,  early  in  February, 
1813,  in'Chesapeake  Bay,  declaring  nearly  the  whole 
coast  of  the  United  States  under  blockade. 

The  Emperor  of  Russia  offered  his  services  as  me 
ditator.  America  accepted ;  England  refused.  A  Brit- 
ish force  of  five  thousand  men  landed  on  the  banks 
of  the  Patuxet  River,  near  its  entrance  into  Chesa- 
peake Bay,  and  marched  rapidly,  by  way  of  Bladens- 
burg,  upon  Washington. 

The  straggling  little  city  of  Washington  was  thrown 
into  consternation.  The  cannon  of  the  brief  conflict 
at  Bladensburg  echoed  through  the  streets  of  the 
metropolis.  The  whole  population  fled  from  the  city. 
The  President,  leaving  Mrs.  Madison  in  the  White 
House,  with  her  carriage  drawn  up  at  the  doer  to 
await  his  speedy  return,  hurried  to  meet  the  officers 
in  a  council  of  war.  He  met  our  troops  utterly  routed, 
and  he  could  not  go  back  without  danger  of  being 
captured.  But  few  hours  elapsed  ere  the  Presidential 
Mansion,  the  Capitol,  and  all  the  public  buildings  in 
Washington  were  in  flames. 

The  war  closed  after  two  years  of  fighting,  and  on 
Feb.  13,  1815,  the  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  at  Ghent. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1817,  his  second  term  of 
office  expired,  and  he  resigned  the  Presidential  chair 
to  his  friend,  James  Monroe.  He  retired  to  his  beau- 
tiful home  at  Montpelier,  and  there  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  his  days.  On  June  28,  1836,  then  at  the 
age  of  85  years,  he  fell  asleep  in  death.  Mrs.  Madi- 
son died  July  12,  1849. 


of  (lib*. 


•'*  s 


'FIFTH  PRESIDENT. 


AMES  MONROE,  the  fifth 
Presidentof  The  United  States, 
was  born  in  Westmoreland  Co., 
Va.,  April  28,  1758.  His  early 
life  was  passed  at  the  place  of 
nativity.  His  ancestors  had  for 
many  years  resided  in  the  prov- 
ince in  which  he  was  born.  When, 
at  17  years  of  age,  in  the  process 
of  completing  his  education  at 
William  and  Mary  College,  the  Co- 
lonial Congress  assembled  at  Phila- 
delphia to  deliberate  upon  the  un- 
just and  manifold  oppressions  of 
Great  Britian,  declared  the  separa- 
tion of  the  Colonies,  and  promul- 
gated the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence. Had  he  been  born  ten  years  before  it  is  highly 
probable  that  he  would  have  been  one  of  the  signers 
of  that  celebrated  instrument.  At  this  time  he  left 
school  and  enlisted  among  the  patriots. 

He  joined  the  army  when  everything  looked  hope- 
less and  gloomy.  The  number  of  deserters  increased 
from  day  to  day.  The  invading  armies  came  pouring 
in ;  and  the  lories  not  only  favored  the  cause  of  the 
mother  country,  but  disheartened  the  new  recruits, 
who  were  sufficiently  terrified  at  the  prospect  of  con- 
tending with  an  enemy  whom  they  had  been  taught 
to  deem  invincible.  To  such  brave  spirits  as  James 
Monroe,  who  went  right  onward,  undismayed  through 
difficulty  and  danger,  the  United  States  owe  their 
pclitical  emancipation.  The  young  cadet  joined  the 
ranks,  and  espoused  the  cause  of  his  injured  country, 
with  a  firm  determination  to  live  o.  lie  with  her  strife 


for  liberty.  Firmly  yet  sadly  he  shared  in  the  mel- 
ancholy retreat  from  Harleam  Heights  and  White 
Plains,  and  accompanied  the  dispirited  army  as  it  fled 
before  its  foes  through  New  Jersey.  In  four  months 
after  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the  patriots 
had  been  beaten  in  seven  battles.  At  the  battle  of 
Trenton  he  led  the  vanguard,  and,  in  the  act  of  charg- 
ing upon  the  enemy  he  received  a  wound  in  the  left 
shoulder. 

As  a  reward  for  his  bravery,  Mr.  Monroe  was  pro-| 
moted  a  captain  of  infantry ;  and,  having  recovered, 
from  his  wound,  he  rejoined  the  army.  He,  however, 
receded  from  the  line  of  promotion,  by  becoming  an 
officer  in  the  staff  of  Lord  Sterling.  During  the  cam- 
paigns of  1777  and  1778,  in  the  actions  of  Brandy 
wine,  Germantown  and  Monmouth,  he  continued 
aid-de-camp ;  but  becoming  desirous  to  regain  his 
position  in  the  army,  he  exerted  himself  to  collect  a 
regiment  for  the  Virginia  line.  This  scheme  failed 
owing  to  the  exhausted  condition  of  the  State.  Upon 
this  failure  he  entered  the  office  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  at 
that  period  Governor,  and  pursued,  with  considerable 
ardor,  the  study  of  common  law.  He  did  not,  however, 
entirely  lay  aside  the  knapsack  for  the  green  bag; 
but  on  the  invasions  of  the  enemy,  served  as  a  volun 
teer,  during  the  two  years  of  his  legal  pursuits. 

In  1782,  he  was  elected  from  King  George  county, 
a  member  of  the  Legislature  of  Virginia,  and  by  thai 
body  he  was  elevated  to  a  seat  in  the  Executive 
Council.  He  was  thus  honored  with  the  confidence 
of  his  fellow  citizens  at  23  years  of  age  ;  and  having 
at  this  early  period  displayed  some  of  that  ability 
and  aptitude  for  legislation,  which  were  afterwards 
employed  with  unremitting  energy  for  the  public  good, 


JAMES  MONROE. 


he  was  in  the  succeeding  year  chosen  a  member  of 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 
Deeplyas  Mr.  Monroe  felt  the  imperfections  of  the  old 
Confederacy,  he  was  opposed  to  the  new  Constitution, 
ihinking,  with  many  others  of  the  Republican  party, 
that  it  gave  too  much  power  to  the  Central  Government, 
and  not  enough  to  the  individual  States.  Still  he  re- 
tained the  esteem  of  his  friends  who  were  its  warm 
supporters,  and  who,  notwithstanding  his  opposition 
secured  its  adoption.  In  1789,  he  became  a  member 
of  the  United  States  Senate ;  which  office  he  held  for 
four  years.  Every  month  the  line  of  distinction  be- 
tween the  two  great  parties  which  divided  the  nation, 
the  Federal  and  the  Republican,  was  growing  more 
distinct.  The  two  prominent  ideas  which  now  sep- 
arated them  were,  that  the  Republican  party  was  in 
sympathy  with  France,  and  also  in  favor  of  such  a 
strict  construction  of  the  Constitution  as  to  give  the 
Central  Government  as  little  power,  and  the  State 
Governments  as  much  power,  as  the  Constitution  would 
warrant.  The  Federalists  sympathized  with  England, 
and  were  in  favor  of  a  liberal  construction  of  the  Con- 
stitution, which  would  give  as  much  power  to  the 
Central  Government  as  that  document  could  possibly 
authorize. 

The  leading  Federalists  and  Republicans  were 
alike  noble  men,  consecrating  all  their  energies  to  the 
good  of  the  nation.  Two  more  honest  men  or  more 

Jure  patriots  than  John  Adams  the  Federalist,  and 
ames  Monroe  the  Republican,  never  breathed.  In 
building  up  this  majestic  nation,  which  is  destined 
to  eclipse  all  Grecian  and  Assyrian  greatness,Jthe  com- 
bination of  their  antagonism  was  needed  to  create  the 
tight  equilibrium.  And  yet  each  in  his  day  was  de- 
nounced as  almost  a  demon. 

Washington  was  then  President.  England  had  es- 
poused the  cause  of  the  Bourbons  against  the  princi- 
ples of  the  French  Revolution.  All  Europe  was  drawn 
into  the  conflict.  We  were  feeble  and  far  away. 
Washington  issued  a  proclamation  of  neutrality  be- 
tween these  contending  powers.  France  had  helped 
us  in  the  struggle  for  our  liberties.  All  the  despotisms 
of  Europe  were  now  combined  to  prevent  the  French 
from  escaping  from  a  tyranny  a  thousand-fold  worse 
than  that  which  we  had  endured.  Col.  Monroe,  more 
magnanimous  than  prudent,  was  anxious  that,  at 
whatever  hazard,  we  should  help  our  old  allies  in 
their  extremity.  It  was  the  impulse  of  a  generous 
and  noble  nature.  He  violently  opposed  the  Pres- 
ident's proclamation  as  ungrateful  and  wanting  in 
magnanimity. 

Washington,  who  could  appreciate  such  a  character, 
developed  his  calm,  serene,  almost  divine  greatness, 
by  appointing  that  very  James  Monroe,  who  was  de- 
nouncing the  policy  of  the  Government,  as  the  minister 
of  that  Government  to  the  Republic  of  France.  Mr. 
Monroe  was  welcomed  by  the  National  Convention 
in  France  with  the  most  enthusiastic  demonstB^tions. 


Shortly  after  his  return  to  this  country,  Mr.  Mon 
roe  was  elected  Governor  of  Virginia,  and  held  th 
office  for  three  years.  He  was  again  sent  to  France  t 
co-operate  with  Chancellor  Livingston  in  obtainin 
the  vast  territory  then  known  as  the  Province  c 
Louisiana,  which  France  had  but  shortly  before  ob 
tained  from  Spain.  Their  united  efforts  were  sue 
cessful.  For  the  comparatively  small  sum  of  fifteei 
millions  of  dollars,  the  entire  territory  of  Orleans  an< 
district  of  Louisiana  were  added  to  the  United  States 
This  was  probably  the  largest  transfer  of  real  estat 
which  was  ever  made  in  all  the  history  of  the  world 

From  France  Mr.  Monroe  went  to  England  to  ob 
tain  from  that  country  some  recognition  of  ou 
rights  as  neutrals,  and  to  remonstrate  afiinst  thos 
odious  impressments  of  our  seamen.  But  Eng 
land  was  unrelenting.  He  again  returned  to  Eng 
land  on  the  same  mission,  but  could  receive  n< 
redress.  He  returned  to  his  home  and  was  agaii 
chosen  Governor  of  Virginia.  This  he  soon  resignet 
to  accept  the  position  of  Secretary  of  State  unde 
Madison.  While  in  this  office  war  with  England  wa 
declared,  the  Secretary  of  War  resigned,  and  durin] 
these  trying  times,  the  duties  of  the  War  Departmen 
were  also  put  upon  him.  He  was  truly  the  armor 
bearer  of  President  Madison,  and  the  most  efficien 
business  man  in  his  cabinet.  Upon  the  return  o 
peace  he  resigned  the  Department  of  War,  but  con 
tinned  in  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State  until  the  ex 
piration  of  Mr.  Madison's  adminstration.  At  the  elec 
tion  held  the  previous  autumn  Mr.  Monroe  himself  hac 
been  chosen  President  with  but  little  opposition,  anc 
upon  March  4,  1817,  was  inaugurated.  Four  year 
later  he  was  elected  for  a  second  term. 

Among  the  important  measures  of  his  Presidenc] 
were  the  cession  of  Florida  to  the  United  States ;  th< 
Missouri  Compromise,  and  the  "  Monroe  doctrine.' 

This  famous  doctrine,  since  known  as  the  "  Monro< 
doctrine,"  was  enunciated  by  him  in  1823.  At  tha' 
time  the  United  States  had  recognized  the  independ 
ence  of  the  South  American  states,  and  did  not  wisl 
to  have  European  powers  longer  attempting  to  sub 
due  portions  of  the  American  Continent.  The  doctrim 
is  as  follows :  "  That  we  should  consider  any  attempl 
on  the  part  of  European  powers  to  extend  their  sys- 
tem to  any  portion  of  this  hemisphere  as  dangerous 
to  our  peace  and  safety,"  and  "that  we  could  noi 
view  any  interposition  for  the  purpose  of  oppressing 
or  controlling  American  governments  or  provinces  in 
any  other  light  than  as  a  manifestation  by  European 
powers  of  an  unfriendly  disposition  toward  the  United 
States."  This  doctrine  immediately  affected  the  course 
of  foreign  governments,  and  has  become  the  approved 
sentiment  of  the  United  States. 

At  the  end  of  his  second  term  Mr.  Monroe  retired 
to  his  home  in  Virginia,  where  he  lived  until  1830. 
when  he  went  to  New  York  to  live  with  his  son-in- 
law.  In  that  city  he  died,on  the  4th  of  July.  1831, 


SIXTH  PRESIDRNT. 


OHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  the 
sixth  President  of  the  United 
States,  was  born  in  the  rural 
home  of  his  honored  father, 
John  Adams,  in  Quincy,  Mass., 
on  the  nth  cf  July,  1767.  His 
mother,  a  woman  of  exalted 
worth,  watched  over  his  childhood 


during  the  almost   constant   ab- 
sence of  his  father.      When   but 
eight  years  of  age,  he  stood  with 
his  mother  on  an  eminence,  listen- 
ing to  the  booming  of  the  great  bat- 
tle on  Bunker's  Hill,  and  gazing  on 
upon  the  smoke  and  flames  billow- 
ing up  from    the   conflagration   of 
Charlestown. 

When  but  eleven  years  old  he 
took  a  tearful  adieu  of  his  mother, 
to  sail  with  his  father  for  Europe, 
through  a  fleet  ot  hostile  British  cruisers.  The  bright, 
animated  boy  spent  a  year  and  a  half  in  Paris,  where 
his  father  was  associated  with  Franklin  and  Lee  as 
minister  plenipotentiary.  His  intelligence  attracted 
the  notice  of  these  distinguished  men,  and  he  received 
from  them  flattering  marks  of  attention. 

Mr.  John  Adams  had  scarcely  returned  to  this 
country,  in  1779,  ere  he  was  again  sent  abroad.  Again 
Tohn  Quincy  accompanied  his  father.  At  Paris  he 
applied  himself  with  great  diligence,  for  six  months, 
to  :,tudy;  then  accompained  his  father  to  Holland, 
where  he  entered,  first  a  school  in  Amsterdam,  then 
the  University  at  Leyden.  About  a  year  from  this 
time,  in  1781,  when  the  manly  boy  was  but  fourteen 
yea-s  of  age,  he  was  selected  by  Mr.  Dana,  our  min- 
ister to  the  Russian  court,  as  his  private  secretary. 

In  this  school  of  incessant  labor  and  of  enobling 
culture  he  spent  fourteen  months,  and  then  returned 
to  Holland  through  Sweden,  Denmark,  Hamburg  and 
Bremen.  This  long  journey  he  took  alone,  in  the 
winter,  when  in  his  sixteenth  year.  Again  he  resumed 
MS  studies,  under  a  pri"*te  tutor,  at  Hague.  Thence, 


in  the  spring  of  1782,  he  accompanied  his  father  t; 
Paris,  traveling  leisurely,  and  forming  acquaintance 
with  the  most  distinguished  men  on  the  Continent 
examining  architectural  remains,  galleries  of  j  aintings 
and  all  renowned  works  of  art.  At  Paris  he  again 
became  associated  with  the  most  illustrious  men  ol 
all  lands  in  the  contemplations  of  the  loftiest  temporal 
themes  which  can  engross  the  human  mind.  After 
a  short  visit  to  England  he  returned  to  Paris,  and 
consecrated  all  his  energies  to  study  until  May,  1785, 
when  he  returned  to  America.  To  a  brilliant  young 
man  of  eighteen,  who  had  seen  much  of  the  world, 
and  who  was  familiar  with  the  etiquette  of  courts,  a 
residence  with  his  father  in  London,  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, must  have  been  extremely  attractive 
but  with  judgment  very  rare  in  one  of  his  age,  he  pre- 
ferred to  return  to  America  to  complete  his  education 
in  an  American  college.  He  wished  then  to  study 
law,  that  with  an  honorable  profession,  he  might  be 
able  to  obtain  an  independent  support. 

Upon  leaving  Harvard  College,  at  the  age  of  twenty, 
he  studied  law  for  three  years.  In  June,  1794,  be- 
ing then  but  twenty-seven  years  of  age,  he  was  ap- 
pointed by  Washington,  resident  minister  at  the 
Netherlands.  Sailing  from  Boston  in  July,  he  reached 
London  in  October,  where  he  was  immediately  admit- 
ted to  the  deliberations  of  Messrs.  Jay  and  Pincknty, 
assisting  them  in  negotiating  a  commercial  treaty  with 
Great  Britian.  After  thus  spending  a  fortnight  ii, 
London,  he  proceeded  to  the  Hague. 

In  July,  1797,  he  left  the  Hague  to  go  to  Portugal  as 
minister  plenipotentiary.  On  his  way  to  Portugal, 
upon  arriving  in  London,  he  met  with  despatches 
directing  him  to  the  court  of  Berlin,  but  requesting 
him  to  remain  in  London  until  he  should  receive  his 
instructions.  While  waiting  he  was  married  to  as 
American  lady  to  whom  he  had  been  previously  en- 
gaged,— Miss  Louisa  Catherine  Johnson,  daughter 
of  Mr.  Joshua  Johnson,  American  consul  in  London 
a  lady  endownd  with  that  beauty  and  those  accom- 
plishment which  eminently  fitted  her  to  move  in  tl«{ 
elevated  sphere  for  which  she  w^s 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS. 


He  reached  Berlin  with  his  wife  in  November,  1797  ; 
where  he  remained  until  July,  1799,  when,  having  ful- 
filled all  the  purposes  of  his  mission,  he  solicited  his 
recall. 

Soon  after  his  return,  in  1802,  he  was  chosen  to 
the  Senate  of  Massachusetts,  from  Boston,  and  then 
was  elected  Senator  of  the  United  States  for  six  years, 
from  the  4th  of  March,  1804.  His  reputation,  his 
ability  and  his  experience,  placed  him  immediately 
among  the  most  prominent  and  influential  members 
of  that  body.  Especially  did  he  sustain  the  Govern- 
ment in  its  measures  of  resistance  to  the  encroach- 
ments of  England,  destroying  our  commerce  and  in- 
sulting our  flag.  There  was  no  man  in  America  more 
familiar  with  the  arrogance  of  the  British  court  upon 
these  points,  and  no  one  more  resolved  to  present 
a  firm  resistance. 

In  1809,  Madison  succeeded  Jefferson  in  the  Pres- 
idential chair,  and  he  immediately  nominated  John 
Quincy  Adams  minister  to  St.  Petersburg.  Resign- 
ing his  professorship  in  Harvard  College,  he  embarked 
at  Boston,  in  August,  1809. 

While  in  Russia,  Mr.  Adams  was  an  intense  stu- 
dent. He  devoted  his  attention  to  the  language  and 
history  of  Russia;  to  the  Chinese  trade;  to  the 
European  system  of  weights,  measures,  and  coins  ;  to 
the  climate  and  astronomical  observations  ;  while  he 
kept  up  a  familiar  acquaintance  with  the  Greek  and 
Latin  classics.  In  all  the  universities  of  Europe,  a 
more  accomplished  scholar  could  scarcely  be  found. 
All  through  life  the  Bible  constituted  an  important 
part  of  his  studies.  It  was  his  rule  to  read  five 
chapters  every  day. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1817,  Mr.  Monroe  took  the 
Presidential  chair,  and  immediately  appointed  Mr. 
Adams  Secretary  of  State.  Taking  leave  of  his  num- 
erous friends  in  public  and  private  life  in  Europe,  he 
sailed  in  June,  1819,  for  the  United  States.  On  the 
r8th  of  August,  he  again  crossed  the  threshold  of  his 
home  in  Quincy.  During  the  eight  years  of  Mr.  Mon- 
roe's administration,  Mr.  Adams  continued  Secretary 
of  State. 

Some  time  before  ;he  close  of  Mr.  Monroe's  second 
term  of  office,  new  candidates  began  to  be  presented 
for  the  Presidency.  The  friends  of  Mr.  Adams  brought 
forward  his  name.  It  was  an  exciting  campaign. 
Party  spirit  was  never  more  bitter.  Two  hundred  and 
sixty  electoral  votes  were  cast.  Andrew  Jackson  re- 
ceived ninety-nine;  John  Quincy  Adams,  eighty-four; 
William  H.  Crawford,  forty -one ;  Henry  Clay,  thirty- 
seven.  As  there  was  no  choice  by  the  people,  the 
question  went  to  the  House  of  Representatives.  Mr. 
Clay  gave  the  vote  of  Kentucky  to  Mr.  Adams,  and 
be  was  elected. 

The  friends  of  all  the  disappointed  candidates  now 
:ombined  in  a  venomous  and  persistent  assault  upon 
Mr.  Adams.  There  is  nothing  more  disgraceful  in 
»he  past  history  of  our  country  than  the  abuse  which 


was  poured  in  one  uninterrupted  stream,  upon  this 
high-minded,  upright,  patriotic  man.  There  never  wa; 
an  administration  more  pure  in  principles,  more  con- 
scientiously devoted  to  the  best  interests  of  the  coun 
try,  than  that  of  John  Quincy  Adams ;  and  never,  per 
haps,  was  there  an  administration  more  unscrupu- 
lously and  outrageously  assailed. 

Mr.  Adams  was,  to  a  very  remarkable  degree,  ab- 
stemious and  temperate  in  his  habits;  always  rising 
early,  and  taking  much  exercise.  When  at  his  hcmeir 
Quincy,  he  has  been  known  to  walk,  before  breakfast 
seven  miles  to  Boston.  In  Washington,  it  was  saic 
that  he  was  the  first  man  up  in  the  city,  lighting  hi: 
own  fire  and  applying  himself  to  work  in  his  library 
often  long  before  dawn. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1829,  Mr.  Adams  retiree 
from  the  Presidency,  and  was  succeeded  by  Andrew 
Jackson.  John  C.  Calhoun  was  elected  Vice  Presi- 
dent.  The  slavery  question  now  began  to  assume 
portentous  magnitude.  Mr.  Adams  returned  tc 
Quincy  and  to  his  studies,  which  he  pursued  with  un- 
abated zeal.  But  he  was  not  long  permitted  to  re- 
main in  retirement.  In  November,  1830,  he  was 
elected  representative  to  Congress.  For  seventeen 
years,  until  his  death,  he  occupied  the  post  as  repre- 
sentative, towering  above  all  his  peers,  ever  ready  tc 
do  brave  battle'  for  freedom,  and  winning  the  title  ol 
"  the  old  man  eloquent."  Upon  taking  his  seat  in 
the  House,  he  announced  that  he  should  hold  him- 
self bound  to  no  party.  Probably  there  never  was  a 
member  more  devoted  to  his  duties.  He  was  usually 
the  first  in  his  place  in  the  morning,  and  the  last  tc 
leave  his  seat  in  the  evening.  Not  a  measure  could 
be  brought  forward  and  escape  his  scrutiny.  The 
battle  which  Mr.  Adams  fought,  almost  singly,  against 
the  proslavery  party  in  the  Government,  was  sublime 
in  its  moral  daring  and  heroism.  For  persisting  in 
presenting  petitions  for  the  abolition  of  slavery,  he 
was  threatened  with  indictment  by  the  grand  jury, 
with  expulsion  from  the  House,  with  assassination  , 
but  no  threats  could  intimidate  him,  and  his  final 
triumph  was  complete. 

It  has  been  said  of  President  Adams,  that  when  his 
body  was  bent  and  his  hair  silvered  by  the  lapse  of 
fourscore  years,  yielding  to  the  simple  faith  of  a  little 
child,  he  was  accustomed  to  repeat  every  night,  before 
he  slept,  the  prayer  which  his  mother  taught  him  in 
his  infant  years. 

On  the  2 1 st  of  February,  r848,  he  rose  on  the  floor 
of  Congress,  with  a  paper  in  his  hand,  to  address  the 
speaker.  Suddenly  he  fell,  again  stricken  by  paraly- 
sis, and  was  caught  in  the  arms  of  those  around  him. 
For  a  time  he  was  senseless,  as  he  was  conveyed  to 
the  sofa  in  the  rotunda.  With  reviving  conscious- 
ness, he  opened  his  eyes,  looked  calmly  around  and 
said  "  This  is  the  end  of  earth  /'then  after  a  moment's 
pause  he  added,  "/  am  content"  These  were  the 
last  words  of  the  grand  "Old  Man  Eloquent." 


•f  the 


IIHlHM. 


^z- 


SEVENTH  PRESIDENT. 


NDREW     JACKSON,     the 
seventh    President    of    the 
"United   States,  was  born  in 
VVaxhaw  settlement,  N.    C., 
March  15,  1767,  a  few  days 
after  his  father's  death.    His 
parents  were  poor  emigrants 
from    Ireland,  and  took  up 
their  abode  in  Waxhaw  set- 
tlement, where  they  lived  in 
deepest  poverty. 
Andrew,  or  Andy,  as  he  was 
universally  called,  grew  up  a  very 
rough,  rude,  turbulent  boy.      His 
features  were  coarse,  his  form  un- 
gainly;   and  there  was  but  very 
Httle  in  his  character,   made  visible,  which  was  at- 
tractive. 

When  only  thirteen  years  old  he  joined  the  volun- 
teers of  Carolina  against  the  British  invasion.  In 
1781,  he  and  his  brother  Robert  were  captured  and 
imprisoned  for  a  time  at  Camden.  A  British  officer 
ordered  him  to  brush  his  mud-spattered  boots.  "  I  am 
a  prisoner  of  war,  not  your  servant,"  was  the  reply  of 
the  dauntless  boy. 

The  brute  drew  his  sword,  and  aimed  a  desperate 
Dlow  at  the  head  of  the  helpless  young  prisoner. 
Andrew  raised  his  hand,  and  thus  received  two  fear- 
ful gashes, — one  on  the  hand  and  the  other  upon  the 
head.  The  officer  then  turned  to  his  brother  Robert 
with  the  same  demand.  He  also  refused,  and  re- 
ceived a  blow  from  the  keen-edged  sabre,  which  quite 
disabled  him,  and  which  probably  soon  after  caused 
his  death.  They  suffered  much  other  ill-treatment,  and 
were  finally  stricken  with  the  small-pox.  Their 
mother  was  successful  in  obtaining  their  exchange, 


and  took  her  sick  boys  home.  After  a  long  illness. 
Andrew  recovered,  and  the  death  of  his  mother  soon 
left  him  entirely  friendless. 

Andrew  supported  himself  in  various  ways,  such  as 
working  at  the  saddler's  trade,  teaching  school  and 
clerking  in  a  general  store,  until  1784,  when  he 
entered  a  law  office  at  Salisbury,  N.  C.  He,  however, 
gave  more  attention  to  the  wild  amusements  of  the 
times  than  to  his  studies.  In  1788,  he  was  appointed 
solicitor  for  the  western  district  of  North  Carolina,  of 
which  Tennessee  was  then  a  part.  This  involved 
many  long  and  tedious  journeys  amid  dangers  of 
every  kind,  but  Andrew  Jackson  never  knew  fear, 
and  the  Indians  had  no  desire  to  repeat  a  skirmish 
with  the  Sharp  Knife. 

In  I79T,  Mr.  Jackson  was  married  to  a  woman  who 
supposed  herself  divorced  from  her  former  husband. 
Great  was  the  surprise  of  both  parties,  two  years  later, 
to  find  that  the  conditions  of  the  divorce  had  just  been 
definitely  settled  by  the  first  husband.  The  marriage 
ceremony  was  performed  a  second  time,  but  the  occur- 
rence was  often  used  by  his  enemies  to  bring  Mr. 
Jackson  into  disfavor. 

During  these  years  he  worked  hard  at  his  profes 
sion,  and  frequently  had  one  or  more  duels  on  hand, 
one  of  which,  when  he  killed  Dickenson,  was  espec- 
ially disgraceful. 

In  January,  1796,  the  Territory  of  Tennessee  then 
containing  nearly  eighty  thousand  inhabitants,  the 
people  met  in  convention  at  Knoxville  to  frame  a  con- 
stitution. Five  were  sent  from  each  of  the  eleven 
counties.  Andrew  Jackson  was  one  of  the  delegates. 
The  new  State  was  entitled  to  but  one  member  in 
the  National  House  of  Representatives.  Andrew  Jack- 
son  was  chosen  that  member.  Mounting  his  horse  he 
rode  to  Philedelphia,  where  Congress  then  held  its 


ANDRE  W  JACKSDN. 


sessions, — a  distance  of  about  eight  hundred    miles. 

Jackson  was  an  earnest  advocate  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party.  Jefferson  was  his  idol.  He  admired 
Bonaparte,  loved  France  and  hated  England.  As  Mr. 
Jackson  took  his  seat,  Gen.  Washington,  whose 
second  term  of  office  was  then  expiring,  delivered  his 
last  speech  to  Congress.  A  committee  drew  up  a 
complimentary  address  in  reply.  Andrew  Jackson 
did  not  approve  of  the  address,  and  was  one  of  the 
twelve  who  voted  against  it.  He  was  not  willing  to 
say  that  Gen.  Washington's  adminstration  had  been 
"  wise,  firm  and  patriotic." 

Mr.  Jackson  was  elected  to  the  United  States 
Senate  in  1797,  but  soon  resigned  and  returned  home. 
Soon  after  he  was  chosen  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  his  State,  which  position  he  held  for  six  years. 

When  the  war  of  1812  with  Great  Britian  com- 
menced, Madison  occupied  the  Presidential  chair. 
Aaron  Burr  sent  word  to  the  President  that  there  was 
an  unknown  man  in  the  West,  Andrew  Jackson,  who 
would  do  credit  to  a  commission  if  one  were  con- 
ferred upon  him.  Just  at  that  time  Gen.  Jackson 
offered  his  services  and  those  of  twenty-five  hundred 
volunteers.  His  offer  was  accepted,  and  the  troops 
were  assembled  at  Nashville. 

As  the  British  were  hourly  expected  to  make  an  at- 
tack upon  New  Orleans,  where  Gen.  Wilkinson  was 
in  command,  he  was  ordered  to  descend  the  river 
with  fifteen  hundred  troops  to  aid  Wilkinson.  The 
expedition  reached  Natchez  ;  and  after  a  delay  of  sev- 
eral weeks  there,  without  accomplishing  anything, 
the  men  were  ordered  back  to  their  homes.  But  the 
energy  Gen.  Jackson  had  displayed,  and  his  entire 
devotion  to  the  comrfort  of  his  soldiers,  won  him 
golden  opinions ;  and  he  became  the  most  popular 
man  in  the  State.  It  was  in  this  expedition  that  his 
toughness  gave  him  the  nickname  of  "Old  Hickory." 

Soon  after  this,  while  attempting  to  horsewhip  Col. 
Thomas  H.  Benton,  for  a  remark  that  gentleman 
made  about  his  taking  a  part  as  second  in  a  duel,  in 
which  a  younger  brother  of  Benton's  was  engaged, 
he  received  two  severe  pistol  wounds.  While  he  was 
lingering  upon  a  bed  of  suffering  news  came  that  the 
Indians,  who  had  combined  under  Tecumseh  from 
Florida  to  the  Lakes,  to  exterminate  the  white  set- 
tlers, were  committing  the  most  awful  ravages.  De- 
cisive action  became  necessary.  Gen.  Jackson,  with 
his  fractured  bone  just  beginning  to  heal,  his  arm  in 
a  sling,  and  unable  to  mount  his  horse  without  assis- 
tance, gave  his  amazing  energies  to  the  raising  of  an 
army  to  rendezvous  at  Fayettesville,  Alabama. 

The  Creek  Indians  had  established  a  strong  fort  on 
one  of  the  bends  of  the  Tallapoosa  River,  near  the  cen- 
ter of  Alabama,  about  fifty  miles  below  Fort  Strother. 
With  an  army  of  two  thousand  men,  Gen.  Jackson 
traversed  the  pathless  wilderness  in  a  march  of  eleven 
days.  He  reached  their  fort,  called  Tohopeka  or 
Horse-shoe,  on  the  27th  of  March.  1814.  The  bend 


of  the  river  enclosed  nearly  one  hundred  acres  of 
tangled  forest  and  wild  ravine.  Across  the  narrow 
neck  the  Indians  had  constructed  a  formidable  breast- 
work of  logs  and  brush.  Here  nine  hundred  warriors, 
with  an  ample  suply  of  arms  were  assembled. 

The  fort  was  stormed.  The  fight  was  utterly  des- 
perate. Not  an  Indian  would  accept  of  quarter.  When 
bleeding  and  dying,  they  would  fight  those  who  en- 
deavored to  spare  their  lives.  From  ten  in  the  morn- 
ing until  dark,  the  battle  raged.  The  carnage  was 
awful  and  revolting.  Some  threw  themselves  into  the 
river;  but  the  unerring  bullet  struck  their  heads  as 
they  swam.  Nearly  everyone  of  the  nine  hundred  war- 
rios  were  killed  A  few  probably,  in  the  night,  swam 
the  river  and  escaped.  This  ended  the  war.  The 
power  of  the  Creeks  was  broken  forever.  This  bold 
plunge  into  the  wilderness,  with  itsterriffic  slaughter, 
so  appalled  the  savages,  that  the  haggard  remnants 
of  the  bands  came,  to  the  camp,  begging  for  peace. 

This  closing  of  the  Creek  war  enabled  us  to  con- 
centrate all  our  militia  upon  the  British,  who  were  the 
allies  of  the  Indians  No  man  of  less  resolute  will 
than  Gen.  Jackson  could  have  conducted  this  Indian 
campaign  to  so  successful  an  issue  Immediately  he 
was  appointed  major-general. 

Late  in  August,  with  an  army  of  two  thousand 
men,  on  a  rushing  march,  Gen.  Jackson  came  to 
Mobile.  A  British  fleet  came  from  Pensacola,  landed 
a  force  upon  the  beach,  anchored  near  the  little  fort, 
and  from  both  ship  and  shore  commenced  a  furious 
assault.  The  battle  was  long  and  doubtful.  At  length 
one  of  the  ships  was  blown  up  and  the  rest  retired. 

Garrisoning  Mobile,  where  he  had  taken  his  little 
army,  he  moved  his  troops  to  New  Orleans, 
And  the  battle  of  New  Orleans  w  hich  soon  ensued, 
was  in  reality  a  very  arduous  campaign.  This  won 
for  Gen.  Jackson  an  imperishable  name.  Here  his 
troops,  which  numbered  about  four  thousand  men, 
won  a  signal  victory  over  the  Briiish  army  of  about 
nine  thousand.  His  loss  was  but  thirteen,  while  the 
loss  of  the  British  was  two  thousand  six  hundred. 

The  name  of  Gen.  Jackson  soon  began  to  be  men- 
tioned in  connection  with  the  Presidency,  but,  in  1824, 
he  was  defeated  by  Mr.  Adams.  He  was,  however, 
successful  in  the  election  of  1828,  and  was  re-elected 
for  a  second  term  in  1832.  In  1829,  just  before  he 
assumed  the  reins  of  the  government,  he  met  with 
the  most  terrible  affliction  of  his  life  in  the  death  of 
his  wife,  whom  he  had  loved  with  a  devotion  which  has 
perhaps  never  been  surpassed.  From  the  shock  of 
her  death  he  never  recovered. 

His  administration  was  one  of  the  most  nic-mcrabie 
in  the  annals  of  our  country;  applauded  oyone  party, 
condemned  by  the  other.  No  man  had  more  bitter 
enemies  or  warmer  friends.  At  the  expiration  of  his 
two  terms  of  office  he  retired  to  the  Hermitage,  where 
he  died  June  8,  1845.  The  last  years  of  Mr.  Jack- 
son's life  were  that  of  a  devoted  Christian  man. 


•f  the 

y  of    IHIno,, 


„ 


EIGHTH  PRESIDENT. 


ARTIN  VAN  BUREN,  the 
^eighth     President     of    the 
United  States,  was  born  at 
Kinderhook,  N.  Y.,  Dec.  5, 
1782.     He  died  at  the  same 
place,  July   24,    1862.      His 
body  rests  in  the  cemetery 
at  Kinderhook.    Above  it  is 
a  plain  granite   shaft  fifteen  feet 
high,  bearing  a  simple  inscription 
about  half  way  up   on   one   face. 
The  lot  is  unfenced,  unbordered 
or  unbounded  by  shrub  or  flower. 

There  U  uut  »Utle  in  the  life  of  Martin  Van  Buren 
of  roman!  t  interest.  He  fought  no  battles,  engaged 
in  no  wild  adventures.  Though  his  life  was  stormy  in 
political  and  intellectual  conflicts,  and  he  gained  many 
signal  victories,  his  days  passed  uneventful  in  those 
incidents  which  give  zest  to  biography.  His  an- 
cestors, as  his  name  indicates,  were  of  Dutch  origin, 
and  were  among  the  earliest  emigrants  from  Holland 
to  the  banks  of  the  Hudson.  His  father  was  a  farmer, 
residing  in  the  old  town  of  Kinderhook.  His  mother, 
also  of  Dutch  lineage,  was  a  woman  of  superior  intel- 
ligence and  exemplary  piety. 

,-fe  was  decidedly  a  precocious  boy,  developing  un- 
usual activity,  vigor  and  strength  of  mind.  At  the 
age  of  fourteen,  he  had  finished  his  academic  studies 
in  his  native  village,  and  commenced  the  study  of 
law.  As  he  had  not  a  collegiate  education,  seven 
years  of  study  in  a  law-office  were  required  of  him 
Before  he  could  be  admitted  to  the  bar.  Inspired  with 
JL  lofty  ambition,  and  conscious  of  his  powers,  he  pur- 
sued liis  studies  with  indefatigable  industry.  After 
spending  six  years  in  an  office  in  his  native  village, 


he  went  to  the  city  of  New  York,  and  prosecuted  his 
studies  for  the  seventh  year. 

In  1803,  Mr.  Van  Buren,  then  twenty-one  years  of 
age,  commenced  the  practice  of  law  in  his  native  vil- 
lage. The  great  conflict  between  the  Federal  and 
Republican  party  was  then  at  its  height.  Mr.  Van 
Buren  was  from  the  beginning  a  politician.  He  had, 
perhaps,  imbibed  that  spirit  while  listening  to  the 
many  discussions  which  had  been  carried  on  in  his 
father's  hotel.  He  was  in  cordial  sympathy  with) 
Jefferson,  and  earnestly  and  eloquently  espoused  the 
cause  of  State  Rights ;  though  at  that  time  the  Fed- 
eral  party  held  the  supremacy  both  in  his  town 
and  State. 

His  success  and  increasing  ruputation  led  him 
after  six  years  of  practice,  to  remove  to  Hudson,  th/ 
county  seat  of  his  county.  Here  he  spent  seven  years, 
constantly  gaining  strength  by  contending  in  th* 
courts  with  some  of  the  ablest  men  who  have  adorned 
the  bar  of  his  State. 

Just  before  leaving  Kinderhook  for  Hudson,  Mi. 
Van  Buren  married  a  lady  alike  distinguished  for 
beauty  and  accomplishments.  After  twelve  short 
years  she  sank  into  the  grave,  the  victim  of  consump. 
tion,  leaving  her  husband  and  four  sons  to  weep  ovei 
her  loss.  For  twenty-five  years,  Mr.  Van  Buren  was 
an  earnest,  successful,  assiduous  lawyer.  The  record 
of  those  years  is  barren  in  items  of  public  interest. 
In  1812,  when  thirty  years  of  age,  he  was  chosen  to 
the  State  Senate,  and  gave  his  strenuous  support  to 
Mr.  Madison's  adminstration.  In  1815,  he  was  ap-' 
pointed  Attorney-General,  and  the  next  year  moved 
to  Albany,  the  capital  of  the  State. 

While  he  was  acknowledged  as  one  of  the  most 
piominent  leaders  of  the  Democratic  party,  he  had 


MARTIN  VAN  BUREN. 


the  moral  courage  to  avow  that  true  democracy  did 
not  require  that  '•'  universal  suffrage"  which  admits 
the  vile,  the  degraded,  the  ignorant,  to  the  right  of 
governing  the  State.  In  true  consistency  with  his 
democratic  principles,  he  contended  that,  while  the 
path  leading  to  the  privilege  of  voting  should  be  open 
to  every  man  without  distinction,  no  one  should  be 
invested  with  that  sacred  prerogative,  unless  he  were 
in  some  degree  qualified  for  it  by  intelligence,  virtue 
and  some  property  interests  in  the  welfare  of  the 
State. 

In  1821  he  was  elected  c.  member  of  the  United 
States  Senate;  and  in  the  same  year,  he  took  a  seat 
in  the  convention  to  revise  the  constitution  of  his 
native  State.  His  course  in  this  convention  secured 
the  approval  of  men  of  all  parties.  No  one  could 
doubt  the  singleness  of  his  endeavors  to  promote  the 
interests  of  all  classes  in  the  community.  In  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  he  rose  at  once  to  a 
Conspicuous  position  as  an  active  and  useful  legislator. 

In  1827,  John  Quincy  Adams  beirg  then  in  the 
Presidential  chair,  Mr.  Van  Buren  was  re-elected  to 
the  Senate.  He  had  been  from  the  beginning  a  de- 
termined opposer  of  the  Administration,  adopting  the 
•"State  Rights "  view  in  opposition  to  what  was 
Meemed  the  Federal  proclivities  of  Mr.  Adams. 

Soon  after  this,  in  1828,  he  was  chosen  Governorof 
the  State  of  New  York,  and  accordingly  resigned  his 
^eat  in  the  Senate.  Probably  no  one  in  the  United 
States  contributed  so  much  towards  ejecting  John  Q. 
\dams  from  the  Presidential  chair,  and  placing  in  it 
Andrew  Jackson,  as  did  Martin  Van  Buren.  Whether 
entitled  to  the  reputation  or  not,  he  certainly  was  re- 
garded throughout  the  United  States  as  one  of  the 
most  skillful,  sagacious  and  cunning  of  politicians. 
It  was  supposed  that  no  one  knew  so  well  as  he  how 
to  touch  the  secret  springs  of  action;  how  to  pull  all 
the  wires  to  put  his  machinery  in  motion ;  and  how  to 
organize  a  political  army  which  would,  secretly  and 
stealthily  accomplish  the  most  gigantic  results.  By 
these  powers  it  is  said  that  he  outwitted  Mr.  Adams, 
Mr.  Clay,  Mr.  Webster,  and  secured  results  which 
few  thought  then  could  be  accomplished. 

When  Andrew  Jackson  was  elected  President  he 
appointed  Mr.  Van  Buren  Secretary  of  State.  This 
position  he  resigned  in  iSjr,  and  was  immediately 
appointed  Minister  to  England,  where  he  went  the 
same  autumn.  The  Senate,  however,  when  it  met, 
refused  to  ratify  the  nomination,  and  he  returned 


home,  apparently  untroubled ;  was  nominated  Vi< 
President  in  the  place  of  Calhoun,  at  the  re-electic 
of  President  Jackson ;  and  with  smiles  for  all  an 
frowns  for  none,  he  took  his  place  at  the  head  of  th; 
Senate  which  had  refused  to  confirm  his  nominatic 
as  ambassador. 

His  rejection  by  the  Senate  roused  all  the  zeal  < 
President  Jackson  in  behalf  of  his  repudiated  favo 
ite ;  and  this,  probably  more  than  any  other  caus 
secured  his  elevation  to  the  chair  of  the  Chief  Execi 
tive.  On  the  2oth  of  May,  1836,  Mr.  Van  Buren  n 
ceived  the  Democratic  nomination  to  succeed  Gei 
Jackson  as  President  of  the  United  States.  He  wj 
elected  by  a  handsome  majority,  to  the  delight  of  th 
retiring  President.  "  Leaving  New  York  out  of  th 
canvass,"  says  Mr.  Parton,  "the  election  of  Mr.  Va 
Buren  to  the  Presidency  was  as  much  the  act  of  Gei 
Jackson  as  though  the  Constitution  had  conferre 
upon  him  the  power  to  appoint  a  successor." 

His  administration  was  filled  with  exciting  event 
The  insurrection  in  Canada,  which  threatened  to  ir 
volve  this  country  in  war  with  England,  the  agitatio 
of  the  slavery  question,  and  finally  the  great  comme: 
cial  panic  which  spread  over  the  country,  all  wei 
trials  to  his  wisdom.  The  financial  distress  was  a.' 
tributed  to  the  management  of  the  Democratic  part; 
and  brought  the  President  into*such  disfavor  that  h 
failed  of  re-election. 

With  the  exception  of  being  nominated  for  th 
Presidency  by  the  "Free  Soil"  Democrats,  in  184! 
Mr.  Van  Buren  lived  quietly  upon  his  estate  unt 
his  death. 

He  had  ever  been  a  prudent  man,  of  frugal  habit 
and  living  within  his  income,  had  now  fortunately 
competence  for  his  declining  years.  His  unblemishe 
character,  his  commanding  abilities,  his  unquestione 
patriotism,  and  the  distinguished  positions  which  h 
had  occupied  in  the  government  of  our  country,  s< 
cured  to  him  not  only  the  homage  of  his  party,  bi 
the  respect  ot  the  whole  community.  It  was  on  Ih 
4th  of  March,  1841,  that  Mr.  Van  Buren  retired  frot 
the  presidency.  From  his  fine  estate  at  Lindenwak 
he  still  exerted  a  powerful  influence  upon  the  politic 
of  the  country.  From  this  time  until  his  death,  o 
the  24th  of  July,  1862,  at  the  age  of  eighty  years,  h 
resided  at  Lindenwald,  a  gentleman  of  leisure,  c 
culture  and  of  wealth;  enjoying  in  a  healthy  ol 
age,  probably  far  more  happiness  than  he  had  befoi 
experienced  amid  the  stormy  scenes  of  his  active  lift 


fe  library 

of  tht 

of  II!!- 


tfTNTH  PRESIDENT. 


WJ&M&M  mm*  mmmsk 


ILLIAM  HENRY  HARRI- 
SON, the  ninth  President  of 
the  United  States,  was  born 
at  Berkeley,  Va.,  Feb.  9,  1773. 
His  father,   Benjamin   Harri- 
son, was  in  comparatively  op- 
ulent circumstances,  and  was 
one  of  the  most  distinguished 
men  of  his  day.     He  was  an 
intimate    friend    of    George 
Washington,  vv  as  early  elected 
a  member  of  the  Continental 
Congress,    and  was    conspicuous 
among  the  patriots  of  Virginia  in 
resisting  the  encroachments  of  the 
British  crown.     In  the  celebrated 
Congress  of  1775,  Benjamin  Har- 
rison  and   John   Hancock   were 
both  candidates  for  the  office  of 
speaker. 

Mr  Harrison  was  subsequently 
chosen  Governor  of  Virginia,  and 
was  twice  re-elected.  His  son, 
i  William  Henry,  of  course  enjoyed 
in  childhood  all  the  advantages  which  wealth  and 
intellectual  and  cultivated  society  could  give.  Hav- 
ing received  a  thorough  common-school  education,  he 
entered  Hampden  Sidney  College,  where  he  graduated 
with  honor  soon  after  the  death  of  his  father.  He 
then  repaired  to  Philadelphia  to  study  medicine  under 
the  instructions  of  Dr.  Rush  and  the  guardianship  of 
Robert  Morris,  both  of  whom  were,  with  his  father, 
ligners  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

Upon  the  outbreak  of  the  Indian  troubles,  and  not- 
withstanding the  'emonstrances  of  his  friends,  he 
abandoned  his  medical  studies  and  entered  the  army, 
.laving  obtain^  a  commission  of  Ensign  from  Presi- 


dent Washington.  He  was  then  but  19  years  old 
From  that  time  he  passed  gradually  upward  in  rank 
until  he  became  aid  to  General  Wayne,  after  whose 
death  he  resigned  his  commission.  He  was  then  ap- 
pointed Secretary  of  the  North-western  Territory.  This 
Territory  was  then  entitled  to  but  one  member  in 
Congress  and  Capt.  Harrison  was  chosen  to  fill  that 
position. 

In  the  spring  of  1800  the  North-western  Territory 
was  divided  by  Congress  into  two  portions.  The 
eastern  portion,  comprising  the  region  now  embraced 
in  the  State  of  Ohio,  was  called  "  The  Territory 
north-west  of  the  Ohio."  The  western  portion,  which 
included  what  is  now  called  Indiana,  Illinois  and 
Wisconsin,  was  called  the  "Indiana  Territory."  Wil- 
liam Henry  Harrison,  then  27  years  of  age,  was  ap- 
pointed by  John  Adams,  Governor  of  the  Indiana 
Territory,  and  immediately  after,  also  Governor  of 
Upper  Louisiana.  He  was  thus  ruler  over  almost  as 
extensive  a  realm  as  any  sovereign  upon  the  globe.  He 
was  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs,  and  was  in- 
vested with  powers  nearly  dictatorial  over  the  now 
rapidly  increasing  white  population.  The  ability  and 
fidelity  with  which  he  discharged  these  responsible 
duties  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  he  was  four 
times  appointed  to  this  office — first  by  John  Adams, 
twice  by  Thomas  Jefferson  and  afterwards  by  Presu 
dent  Madison. 

When  he  began  his  adminstration  there  were  but 
three  white  settlements  in  that  almost  boundless  region, 
now  crowded  with  cities  and  resounding  with  all  the 
tumult  of  wealth  and  traffic.  One  of  these  settlements 
was  on  the  Ohio,  nearly  opposite  Louisville;  one  at 
Vincennes,  on  the  Wabash,  and  the  third  a  French 
settlement. 

The  vast  wilderness  over  which  Gov.  Harrisoii 
reigned  was  filled  with  many  tribes  of  Indians.  Abou' 


WILLIAM  HENRY  HARRISON. 


the  year  1806,  two  extraordinary  men,  twin  brothers, 
of  the  Shawnese  tribe,  rose  among  them.  One  of 
these  was  called  Tecumseh,  or  "  The  Crouching 
Panther;"  the  other,  Olliwacheca,  or  "The  Prophet." 
Tecumseh  was  not  only  an  Indian  warrior,  but  a  man 
of  great  sagacity,  far-reaching  foresight  and  indomit- 
able perseverance  in  any  enterprise  in  which  he  might 
engage.  He  was  inspired  with  the  highest  enthusiasm, 
and  had  long  regarded  with  dread  and  with  hatred 
the  encroachment  of  the  whites  upon  the  hunting- 
grounds  of  his  fathers.  His  brother,  the  Prophet,  was 
an  orator,  who  could  sway  the  feelings  of  the  untutored 
Indian  as  the  gale  tossed  the  tree-tops  beneath  which 
they  dwelt. 

But  the  Prophet  was  not  merely  an  orator :  he  was, 
in  the  superstitious  minds  of  the  Indians,  invested 
with  the  superhuman  dignity  of  a  medicine-man  or  a 
magician.  With  an  enthusiasm  unsurpassed  by  Peter 
the  Hermit  rousing  Europe  to  the  crusades,  he  went 
from  tribe  to  tribe,  assuming  that  he  was  specially  sent 
by  the  Great  Spirit. 

Gov.  Harrison  made  many  attempts  to  conciliate 
the  Indians,  but  at  last  the  war  came,  and  at  Tippe- 
canoe  the  Indians  were  routed  with  great  slaughter. 
October  28,  1812,  his  army  began  its  march.  When 
near  the  Prophet's  town  three  Indians  of  rank  made 
their  appearance  and  inquired  why  Gov.  Harrison  was 
approaching  them  in  so  hostile  an  attitude.  After  a 
short  conference,  arrangements  were  made  for  a  meet- 
ing the  next  day,  to  agree  upon  terms  of  peace. 

•But  Gov.  Harrison  was  too  well  acquainted  with 
the  Indian  character  to  be  deceived  by  such  protes- 
tations. Selecting  a  favorable  spot  for  his  night's  en- 
campment, he  took  every  precaution  against  surprise. 
His  troops  were  posted  in  a  hollow  square,  and  slept 
upon  their  arms. 

The  troops  threw  themselves  upon  the  ground  for 
rest;  but  every  man  had  his  accourtrements  on,  his 
loaded  musket  by  his  side, and  his  bayonet  fixed.  The 
wakeful  Governor,  between  three  and  four  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  had  risen,  and  was  sitting  in  conversa- 
tion with  his  aids  by  the  embers  of  a  waning  fire.  It 
was  a  chill,  cloudy  morning  with  a  drizzling  rain.  In 
the  darkness,  the  Indians  had  crept  as  near  as  possi- 
ble, and  j'ist  then,  with  a  savage  yell,  rushed,  with  all 
the  desperation  which  superstition  and  passion  most 
highly  inflamed  could  give,  upon  the  left  flank  of  the 
little  army.  The  savages  had  been  amply  provided 
with  guns  and  ammunition  by  the  English.  Their 
war-whoop  was  accompained  by  a  shower  of  bullets. 

The  camp-fires  were  instantly  extinguished,  as  the 
light  aided  the  Indians  in  their  aim.  With  hide- 
ous yells,  the  Indian  bands  rushed  on,  not  doubting  a 
speedy  and  an  entire  victory.  But  Gen.  Harrison's 
troops  stood  as  immovable  as  the  rocks  around  them 
until  day  dawned  :  they  then  made  a  simultaneous 
charge  with  the  bayonet,  and  swept  every  thing  be- 
fore them,  and  completely  routing  the  foe. 


Gov.  Harrison  now  had  all  his  energies  taski 
to  the  utmost.  The  British  descending  from  the  Ca 
adas,  were  of  themselves  a  very  formidable  force  ;  b 
with  their  savage  allies,  rushing  like  wolves  from  tl 
forest,  searching  out  every  remote  farm-house,  bur 
ing,  plundering,  scalping,  torturing,  the  wide  fronti 
was  plunged  into  a  state  of  consternation  which  evi 
the  most  vivid  imagination  can  but  faintly  conceh 
The  war-whoop  was  resounding  everywhere  in  ti 
forest.  The  horizon  was  illuminated  with  the  conflagi 
tion  of  the  cabins  of  the  settlers.  Gen  Hull  had  ma 
the  ignominious  surrender  of  his  forces  at  Detro 
Under  these  despairing  circumstances,  Gov.  Harris 
was  appointed  by  President  Madison  commander-i 
chief  of  the  North-western  army,  with  orders  to  reta 
Detroit,  and  to  protect  the  frontiers. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  place  a  man  in  a  situati 
demanding  more  energy,  sagacity  and  courage;  b 
General  Harrison  was  found  equal  to  the  positic 
and  nobly  and  triumphantly  did  he  meet  all  the  i 
sponsibilities. 

He  won  the  love  of  his  soldiers  by  always  shari 
with  them  their  fatigue.  His  whole  baggage,  whi 
pursuing  the  foe  up  the  Thames,  was  carried  in 
valise;  and  his  bedding  consisted  of  a  single  blank 
lashed  over  his  saddle.  Thirty-five  British  office 
his  prisoners  of  war,  supped  with  him  after  the  batt 
The  only  fare  he  could  give  them  was  beef  roasti 
before  the  fire,  without  bread  or  salt. 

In  1816,  Gen.  Harrison  was  chosen  a  member 
the  National  House  of  Representatives,  to  represe 
the  District  of  Ohio.  In  Congress  he  proved  ; 
active  member;  and  whenever  he  spoke,  it  was  wi 
force  of  reason  and  power  of  eloquence,  which  arrest 
the  attention  of  all  the  members. 

In  1819,  Harrison  was  elected   to  the   Senate 
Ohio;  and  in  1824,  as  one  of  the  presidential  electc 
of  that  State,  he  gave  his  vote  for  Henry  Clay.      T 
same  year  he  was  chosen  to  the  United  States  Senai 

In  1836,  the  friends  of  Gen.  Harrison  brought  hi 
forward  as  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency  again 
Van  Buren,  but  he  was  defeated.  At  the  close 
Mr.  Van  Buren's  term,  he  was  re-nominated  by  \ 
party,  and  Mr.  Harrison  was  unanimously  nominal* 
by  the  Whigs,  with  John  Tyler  for  the  Vice  Presidenc 
The  contest  was  very  animated.  Gen.  Jackson  ga^ 
all  his  influence  to  prevent  Harrison's  election  ;  b 
his  triumph  was  signal. 

The  cabinet  which  he  formed,  with  Daniel  Webst 
at  its  head  as  Secretary  of  State,  was  one  of  the  mo 
brilliant  with  which  any  President  had  ever  bei 
surrounded.  Never  were  the  prospects  of  an  admi 
istration  more  flattering,  or  the  hopes  of  the  count 
more  sanguine.  In  the  midst  of  these  bright  at 
joyous  prospects,  Gen.  Harrison  was  seized  by 
pleurisy-fever  and  after  a  few  days  of  violent  sici 
ness,  died  on  the  4th  of  April ;  just  one  month  aft- 
his  inauguration  as  President  of  the  United  State 


of  th« 
of 


a 


TENTH  PRESIDENT. 


m 


OHN    TYLER,     the    tenth 
Presidentof  the  United  States. 
He  was  born  in  Charles-city 
Co.,  Va.,  March  29, 1790.  He 
was  the  favored  child   of  af- 
fluence and  high   social    po- 
'       sition.     At  the   early  age   of 
twelve,  John  entered  William 
and  Mary  College  and  grad- 
uated with  much  honor  when 
but  seventeen  years  old.  After 
graduating,  he  devoted  him- 
self with    great   assiduity  to   the 
study    of    law,    partly  with    his 
father   and   partly  with   Edmund 
Randolph,  one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished lawyers  of  Virginia. 

At  nineteen  years  of  age,  ne 
commenced  the  practice  of  law. 
His  success  was  rapid  and  aston- 
ishing. It  is  said  that  three 
months  had  not  elapsed  ere  there 
was  scarcely  a  case  on  the  dock- 
et  of  the  court  in  which  he  was 
i»ot  retained.  When  but  twenty-one  years  of  age,  he 
was  almost  unanimously  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  State 
Legislature.  He  connected  himself  with  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  and  warmly  advocated  the  measures  of 
Jefferson  and  Madison.  For  five  successive  years  he 
wiis  elected  to  the  Legislature,  receiving  nearly  the 
unanimous  vote  or  his  county. 

When  but  twenty-six  years  of  age,  he  was  elected 
a  member  of  Congress.  Here  he  acted  earnestly  and 
ably  wuh  the  Democratic  party,  opposing  a  national 
bank,  intern-,!  improvements  by  the  General  <^ovem- 


ment,  a  protective  tariff,  and  advocating  a  strict  con- 
struction of  the  Constitution,  and  the  most  careful 
vigilance  over  State  rights.  His  labors  in  Congress 
were  so  arduous  that  before  the  close  of  his  second 
term  he  found  it  necessary  to  resign  and  retire  to  his 
estate  in  Charles-city  Co.,  to  recruit  his  health.  He. 
however,  soon  after  consented  to  take  his  seat  in  the 
State  Legislature,  where  his  influence  was  powerful 
in  promoting  public  works  of  great  utility.  .With  a 
reputation  thus  canstantly  increasing,  he  was  chosen 
by  a  very  large  majority  of  votes,  Governor  of  his 
native  State.  His  administration  was  signally  a  suc- 
cessful one.  His  popularity  secured  his  re-election. 

John  Randolph,  a  brilliant,  erratic,  half-crazed 
man,  then  represented  Virginia  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States.  A  portion  of  the  Democratic  party 
was  displeased  with  Mr.  Randolph's  wayward  course, 
and  brought  forward  John  Tyler  as  his  opponent, 
considering  him  the  only  man  in  Virginia  of  sufficient 
popularity  to  succeed  against  the  renowned  orator  of 
Roanoke.  Mr.  Tyler  was  the  victor. 

In  accordance  with  his  professions,  upon  taking  his 
seat  in  the  Senate,  he  joined  the  ranks  of  the  opposi- 
tion. He  opposed  the  tariff;  he  spoke  against  and 
voted  against  the  bank  as  unconstitutional ;  he  stren- 
uously opposed  all  restrictions  upon  slavery,  resist- 
ing all  projects  of  internal  improvements  by  the  Gen- 
eral Government,  and  avowed  his  sympathy  with  Mr. 
Calhoun's  view  of  nullification;  he  declared  that  Gen. 
Jackson,  by  his  opposition  to  the  nullifiers,  had 
abandoned  the  principles  of  the  Democratic  party. 
Such  was  Mr.  Tyler's  record  in  Congress, — a  record 
in  perfect  accordance  with  the  principles  which  he 
had  always  avowed. 

Returning  to  Virginia,  he  resumed  the  practice  of 
his  profession.  There  was  a  rplh  in  the  Democratic 


JOHN  TYLER. 


(•arty.  His  friends  still  regarded  him  as  a  true  Jef- 
fersonian,  gave  him  a  dinner,  and  showered  compli- 
ments upon  him.  He  had  now  attained  the  age  of 
forty-six.  His  career  had  been  very  brilliant.  In  con- 
sequence of  his  devotion  to  public  business,  his  pri- 
vate affairs  had  fallen  into  some  disorder;  and  it  was 
not  without  satisfaction  that  he  resumed  the  practice 
of  law,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  culture  of  his  plan- 
tation. Soon  after  this  he  removed  to  Williamsburg, 
for  the  better  education  of  his  children ;  and  he  again 
took  his  seat  in  the  Legislature  of  Virginia. 

By  the  Southern  Whigs,  he  was  sent  to  the  national 
convention  at  Harrisburg  to  nominate  a  President  in 
'839.  The  majority  of  votes  were  given  to  Gen.  Har- 
rison, a  genuine  Whig,  much  to  the  disappointment  of 
the  South,  who  wished  for  Henry  Clay.  To  concili- 
ate the  Southern  Whigs  and  to  secure  their  vote,  the 
convention  then  nominated  John  Tyler  for  Vice  Pres- 
ident. It  was  well  known  that  he  was  not  in  sympa- 
thy with  the  Whig  party  in  the  North :  but  the  Vice 
President  has  but  very  little  power  in  the  Govern- 
ment, his  main  and  almost  only  duty  being  to  pre- 
side over  the  meetings  of  the  Senate.  Thus  it  hap- 
pened that  a  Whig  President,  and,  in  reality,  a 
Democratic  Vice  President  were  chosen. 

In  1841,  Mr.  Tyler  was  inaugurated  Vice  Presi- 
Jent  of  the  United  States.  In  one  short  month  from 
that  time,  President  Harrison  died,  and  Mr.-  Tyler 
thus  .cund  himself,  to  his  own  surprise  and  that  of 
the  whole  Nation,  an  occupant  of  the  Presidential 
chair.  This  was  a  new  test  of  the  stability  of  our 
institutions,  as  it  was  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  our 
country  that  such  an  event  had  occured.  Mr.  Tyler 
was  at  home  in  Williamsburg  when  he  received  the 
unexpected  tidings  of  the  death  of  President  Harri- 
son. He  hastened  to  Washington,  and  on  the  6th  of 
April  was  inaugurated  to  the  high  and  responsible 
office.  He  was  placed  in  a  position  of  exceeding 
delicacy  and  difficulty.  All  his  long  life  he  had  been 
opposed  tc  the  main  principles  of  the  party  which  had 
brought  him  into  power.  He  had  ever  been  a  con- 
sistent, honest  man,  with  an  unblemished  record. 
Gen.  Harrison  had  selected  a  Whig  cabinet.  Should 
he  retain  them,  and  thus  surround  himself  with  coun- 
sellors whose  views  were  antagonistic  to  his  own  ?  or, 
on  the  other  hand,  should  he  turn  against  the  party 
which  had  elected  him  and  select  a  cabinet  in  har- 
mony with  himself,  and  which  would  oppose  all  those 
views  which  the  Whigs  deemed  essential  to  the  pub- 
lic welfare?  This  was  his  fearful  dilemma.  He  in- 
vited the  cabinet  which  President  Haorison  had 
Delected  to  retain  their  seats.  He  reccommended  a 
day  of  fasting  and  prayer,  that  God  would  guide  and 
bless  us. 

The  Whigs  carried  through  Congress  a  bill  for  the 
incorporation  of  a  fiscal  bank  of  the  United  States. 
The  President,  after  ten  days'  delay,  returned  it  with 
his  veto.  He  suggested,  however,  that  he  would 


approve  of  a  bill  drawn  up  upon  such  a  plan  as 
proposed.  •  Such  a  bill  was  accordingly  prepared, 
privately  submitted  to  him.  He  gave  it  his  appro 
It  was  passed  without  alteration,  and  he  sent  it  t 
with  his  veto.  Here  commenced  the  open  rupt 
It  is  said  that  Mr.  Tyler  was  provoked  to  this  m 
ure  by  a  published  letter  from  the  Hon.  John 
Botts,  a  distinguished  Virginia  Whig,  who  seve 
touched  the  pride  of  the  President. 

The  opposition  now  exultingly  received  the  Pi 
dent  into  their  arms.  The  party  which  elected 
denounced  him  bitterly.  All  the  members  of 
cabinet,  excepting  Mr.  Webster,  resigned.  The  W 
of  Congress,  both  the  Senate  and  the  House,  hel 
meeting  and  issued  an  address  to  the  people  of 
United  States,  proclaiming  that  all  political  allia 
between  the  Whigs  and  President  Tyler  were 
an  end. 

Still  the  President  attempted  to  conciliate, 
appointed  a  new  cabinet  of  distinguished  Whigs 
Conservatives,  carefully  leaving  out  all  strong  p 
men.  Mr.  Webster  soon  found  it  necessary  tores 
forced  out  by  the  pressure  of  his  Whig  friends.  T 
the  four  years  of  Mr.  Tyler's  unfortunate  adminii 
tion  passed  sadly  away.  No  one  was  satisfied, 
land  wa,s  filled  with  murmurs  and  vituperation.  W 
and  Democrats  alike  assailed  him.  More  and  rr 
however,  he  brought  himself  into  sympathy  with 
old  friends,  the  Democrats,  until  at  the  close  of  his  t> 
he  gave  his  whole  influence  to  the  support  of 
Polk,  the  Democratic  candidate  for  his  successor 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1845,  he  retired  from 
harassments  of  office,  to  the  regret  of  neither  party, 
probably  to  his  own  unspeakable  relief.  His  first  i 
Miss  Letitia  Christian,  died  in  Washington,  in  i! 
and  in  June,  1844,  President  Tyler  was  again  man 
at  New  York,  to  Miss  Julia  Gardiner,  a  young  lac 
many  personal  and  intellectual  accomplishments. 

The  remainder  of  his  days  Mr.  Tyler  passed  mi 
in  retirement  at  his  beautiful  home, — Sherwood 
est,  Charles-city  Co.,  Va.  A  polished  gentlemai 
his  manners,  richly  furnished  with  information  i 
books  and  experience  in  the  world,  and  posses 
brilliant  powers  of  conversation,  his  family  circle 
the  scene  of  unnsual  attractions.  With  suffic 
means  for  the  exercise  of  a  generous  hospitality 
might  have  enjoyed  a  serene  old  age  with  the 
friends  who  gathered  around  him,  were  it  not  for 
storms  of  civil  war  which  his  own  principles 
policy  had  helped  to  introduce. 

When  the  great  Rebellion  rose,  which  the  Si 
rights  and  nullifying  doctrines  of  Mr.  John  C.  ' 
houn  had  inaugurated,  President  Tyler  renounced 
allegiance  to  the  United  States,  and  joined  the  Con 
crates.  He  was  chosen  a  member  of  their  Congr 
and  while  engaged  in  active  measures  to  destroy 
force  of  arms,  the  Government  over  which  he 
once  presided,  he  was  taken  sick  and  soon  d 


of  tfci 
of  l 


ELE  VENTff  'PRESTDEtfT.  ' 


AMES  K.  POLK,  the  eleventh 
^President  of  the  United  States, 
was  born  in  Mecklenburg  Co., 
N.  C.,Nov.  2,  1795.  His  par- 
ents were  Samuel  and  Jane 
(Knox)  Polk,  the  former  a  son 


of  Col.  Thomas  Polk,  who  located 
at  the  above  place,  as  one  of  the 
first  pioneers,  in  1735. 

In  the  year  1806,  with  his  wife 
and  children,  and  soon  after  fol- 
lowed by  most  of  the   members   of 
the  Polk  farnly,  Samuel   Polk  emi- 
grated some  two  or  three  hundred 
miles  farther  west,  to  the  rich  valley 
of  the  Duck  River.      Here   in   the 
midst  of  the  wilderness,  in  a  region 
which  was  subsequently  called  Mau- 
ry  Co.,  they  reared  their  log  huts, 
and  established  their  homes.    In  the 
hard  toil  of  a  new  farm  in  the  wil- 
derness, James  K.  Polk   spent   the 
early  years  of  his   childhood   and 
youth.     His  father,  adding  the  pur- 
suit of  a  surveyor  to  that  of  a  farmer, 
gradually  increased  in  wealth  until 
he  became  one  of  the  leading  men  of  the  region.  His 
mother  was  a  superior  woman,  of  strong   common 
sense  and  earnest  piety. 

Very  early  in  life,  James  developed  a  taste  for 
reading  and  expressed  the  strongest  desire  to  obtain 
a  liberal  education.  His  mother's  training  had  made 
him  methodical  in  his  habits,  had  taught  him  punct- 
uality and  industry,  and  had  inspired  him  with  lofty 
principles  of  morality.  His  health  was  frail  ;  and  his 
father,  fearing  that  be  might  not  \>c  able  to  endure  a 


ess  than  two  and  a  half 
sntered  the  sophomorel 
h  Carolina,  at  Chapell 


sedentary  life,  got  a   situation   for  him   behind  the 
counter,  hoping  to  fit  him  for  commercial  pursuits. 

This  was  to  James  a  bitter  disappointment.  He 
had  no  taste  for  these  duties,  and  his  daily  tasks 
were  irksome  in  the  extreme.  He  remained  in  this 
uncongenial  occupation  but  a  few  weeks,  when  at  his 
earnest  solicitation  his  father  removed  him,  and  made 
arrangements  for  him  to  prosecute  his  studies.  Soon 
after  he  sent  him  to  Murfreesboro  Academy.  With 
ardor  which  could  scarcely  be  surpassed,  he  pressed 
forward  in  his  studies,  and  in  less  than  two  and  a  half  j 
years,  in  the  autumn  of  1815,  er 
class  in  the  University  of  North  Ca 
Hill.  Here  he  was  one  of  the  most  exemplary  of 
scholars,  punctual  in  every  exercise,  never  allowing 
himself  to  be  absent  from  a  recitation  or  a  religious 
service. 

He  graduated  in  1818,  with  the  highest  honors, be- 
ing deemed  the  best  scholar  of  his  class,  both  in 
mathematics  and  the  classics.  He  was  then  twenty- 
three  years  of  age.  Mr.  Folk's  health  was  at  this 
time  much  impaired  by  the  assiduity  with  which  he 
had  prosecuted  his  studies.  After  a  short  season  of 
relaxation  he  went  to  Nashville,  and  entered  the 
office  of  Felix  Grundy,  to  study  law.  Here  Mr.  Polk 
renewed  his  acquaintance  with  Andrew  Jackson,  who 
resided  on  his  plantation,  the  Hermitage,  but  a  few 
miles  from  Nashville.  They  had  probably  been 
slightly  acquainted  before. 

Mr.  Folk's  father  was  a  JefTersonian  Republican, 
and  James  K.  Polk  ever  adhered  to  the  same  politi- 
cal faith.  He  was  a  popular  public  speaker,  and  was 
constantly  called  upon  to  address  the  meetings  of  his 
party  friends.  His  skill  as  a  speaker  was  such  that 
he  was  popularly  called  the  Napoleon  of  the  stump. 
He  was  a  man  of  unblemished  morals,  genial  and 


fAMES  K.  POLK. 


courier  us  in  his  bearing,  and  with  that  sympathetic 
nature  in  the  joys  and  griefs  of  others  which  ever  gave 
him  troops  of  friends.  In  1823,  Mr.  Polk  was  elected 
to  the  Legislature  of  Tennessee.  Here  he  gave  his 
strong  influence  towards  the  election  of  his  friend, 
Mr.  Jackson,  to  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States. 

In  January,  1824,  Mr.  Polk  married  Miss  Sarah 
'Childress,  of  Rutherford  Co.,  Tenn.  His  bride  was 
altogether  worthy  of  him, — a  lady  of  beauty  and  cul- 
ture. In  the  fall  of  1825,  Mr.  Polk  was  chosen  a 
member  of  Congress.  The  satisfaction  which  he  gave 
to  his  constituents  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact,  that 
for  fourteen  successive  years,  until  1839,  he  was  con- 
tinued in  that  office.  He  then  voluntarily  withdrew, 
only  that  he  might  accept  the  Gubernatorial  chair 
of  Tennessee.  In  Congress  he  was  a  laborious 
member,  a  frequent  and  a  popular  speaker.  He  was 
always  in  his  seat,  always  courteous ;  and  whenever 
he  spoke  it  was  always  to  the  point,  and  without  any 
ambitious  rhetorical  display. 

During  five  sessions  of  Congress,  Mr.  Polk  was 
Speaker  of  the  House.  Strong  passions  were  roused, 
and  stormy  scenes  were  witnessed  ;  but  Mr.  Polk  per- 
formed his  arduous  duties  to  a  very  general  satisfac- 
tion, and  a  unanimous  vote  of  thanks  to  him  was 
passed  by  the  House  as  he  withdrew  on  the  4th  of 
March,  1839. 

In  accordance  with  Southern  usage,  Mr.  Polk,  as  a 
candidate  for  Governor,  canvassed  the  State.  He  was 
elected  by  a  large  majority,  and  on  the  1 4th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1839,  took  the  oath  of  office  at  Nashville.  In  1841, 
his  term  of  office  expired,  and  he  was  again  the  can- 
didate of  the  Democratic  party,  but  was  defeated. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1845,  Mr.  Polk  was  inaugur- 
ated President  of  the  United  States.  The  verdict  of 
the  countryin  favor  of  the  annexation  of  Texas,  exerted 
its  influence  upon  Congress  ;  and  the  last  act  of  the 
administration  of  President  Tyler  was  to  affix  his  sig- 
nature to  a  joint  resolution  of  Congress,  passed  on  the 
3d  of  March,  approving  of  the  annexation  of  Texas  to 
the  American  Union.  As  Mexico  still  claimed  Texas 
as  one  of  her  provinces,  the  Mexican  minister, 
Almonte,  immediately  demanded  his  passports  and 
'Jaft  the  country,  declaring  the  act  of  the  annexation 
lo  be  an  act  hostile  to  Mexico. 

In  his  first  message,  President  Polk  urged  that 
Texas  should  immediately,  by  act  of  Congress,  be  re- 
ceived into  the  Union  on  the  same  footing  with  the 
other  States.  In  the  meantime,  Gen.  Taylor  was  sent 


with  an  army  into  Texas  to  hold  the  country.  He  w 
sent  first  to  Nueces,  which  the  Mexicans  said  was  t 
western  boundary  of  Texas.  Then  he  was  sent  nea: 
two  hundred  miles  further  west,  to  the  Rio  Gram 
where  he  erected  batteries  which  commanded  t 
Mexican  city  of  Matamoras,  which  was  situated 
the  western  banks. 

The  anticipated  collision  soon  took  place,  and  fl 
was  declared  against  Mexico  by  President  Polk.  T 
war  was  pushed  forward  by  Mr.  Folk's  administrati 
with  great  vigor.  Gen.  Taylor,  whose  army  was  fi 
called  one  of  "  observation,"  then  of  "  occupatioi 
then  of  "  in  vasion, "  was  sent  forward  to  Monterey.  T 
feeble  Mexicans,  in  every  encounter,  were  hopeles; 
ana  awfully  slaughtered.  The  day  of  judgeme 
alone  can  reveal  the  misery  which  this  war  caus< 
It  was  by  the  ingenuity  of  Mr.  Folk's  administrati 
that  the  war  was  brought  on. 

'To  the  victors  belong  the  spoils."  Mexico  w 
prostrate  before  us.  Her  capital  was  in  our  ham 
We  now  consented  to  peace  upon  the  condition  tli 
Mexico  should  surrender  to  us,  in  addition  to  Tex 
all  of  New  Mexico,  and  all  of  Upper  and  Lower  C 
ifornia.  This  new  demand  embraced,  exclusive 
Texas,  eight  hundred  thousand  square  miles.  Tl 
was  an  extent  of  territory  equal  to  nine  States  of  t 
size  of  New  York.  Thus  slavery  was  securing  eighte 
majestic  States  to  be  added  to  the  Union.  There  w( 
some  Americans  who  thought  it  all  right :  there  wt 
others  who  thought  it  all  wrong.  In  the  prosecuti 
of  this  war,  we  expended  twenty  thousand  lives  a: 
more  than  a  hundred  million  of  dollars.  Of  tl 
money  fifteen  millions  were  paid  to  Mexico. 

On  the  3d  of  March,  1849,  Mr.  Polk  retired  frc 
office,  having  served  one  term.  The  next  day  w 
Sunday.  On  the  5th,  Gen.  Taylor  was  inaugural 
as  his  successor.  Mr.  Polk  rode  to  the  Capitol  in  t 
same  carriage  with  Gen.  Taylor;  and  the  same  eve 
ing,  with  Mrs.  Polk,  he  commenced  his  return 
Tennessee.  He  was  then  but  fifty-four  years  of  aj 
He  had  ever  been  strictly  temperate  in  all  his  habi 
and  his  health  was  good.  With  an  ample  fortur 
a  choice  library,  a  cultivated  mind,  and  domestic  ti 
of  the  dearest  nature,  it  seemed  as  though  long  yea 
of  tranquility  and  happiness  were  before  him.  But  tl 
cholera — that  fearful  scourge — was  then  sweeping  i 
the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi.  This  he  contracte 
and  died  on  the  151)1  of  June,  1849,  in  the  fiftv-four 
year  of  his  age,  greatly  mourned  by  his  countryme 


Tfc«  Library 
of  the 

of  HIM 


ff 


TWELFTH  PRESIDENT. 


ACHARY  TAYLOR,  twelfth 
President  of  the  United  States, 
was  born  on  the  24th  of  Nov., 
1784,  in  Orange  Co.,  Va.  His 
father,  Colonel  Taylor,  was 
Virginian  of  note,  and  a  dis- 
tinguished patriot  and  soldier  of 
the  Revolution.  When  Zachary 
was  an  infant,  his  father  with  his 
wife  and  two  children,  emigrated 
to  Kentucky,  where  he  settled  in 
the  pathless  wilderness,  a  few 
miles  from  Louisville.  In  this  front- 
ier home,  away  from  civilization  and 
all  its  refinements,  young  Zachary 
could  enjoy  but  few  social  and  educational  advan- 
tages. When  six  years  of  age  he  attended  a  common 
school,  and  was  then  regarded  as  a  bright,  active  boy, 
rather  remarkable  for  bluntness  and  decision  of  char- 
acter He  was  strong,  feailess  and  self-reliant,  and 
manifested  a  strong  desire  to  enter  the  army  to  fight 
the  Indians  who  were  ravaging  the  frontiers.  There 
is  little  to  be  recorded  of  the  uneventful  years  of  his 
childhood  on  his  father's  large  but  lonely  plantation. 
In  1 808,  his  father  succeeded  in  obtaining  for  him 
the  commission  of  lieutenant  in  the  United  States 
army ;  and  he  joined  the  troops  which  were  stationed 
at  New  Orleans  under  Gen.  Wilkinson.  Soon  after 
this  he  married  Miss  Margaret  Smith,  a  young  lady 
from  one  of  the  first  families  of  Maryland. 

Immediately  after  the  declaration  of  war  with  Eng- 
land, in  1812,  Capt.  Taylor  (for  he  had  then  been 
promoted  to  that  rank)  was  put  in  command  of  Fort 
Harrison,  on  the  Wabash,  about  fifty  miles  above 
Vincennes.  This  fort  had  been  built  in  the  wilder- 
ness by  Gen.  Harrison,on  his  march  to  Tippecanoe. 
It  was  one  of  the  first  points  of  attack  by  the  Indians, 
;ed  by  Tecumseh.  Its  garrison  consisted  of  a  broken 


company  of  infantry  numbering   fifty  men,   many  of 
whom  were  sick. 

Early  in  the  autumn  of  1812,  the  Indians,  stealthily, 
and  in  large  numbers,  moved  upon  the  fort.  Their 
approach  was  first  indicated  by  the  murder  of  two 
soldiers  just  outside  of  the  stockade.  Capt.  Taylor 
made  every  possible  preparation  to  meet  the  antici- 
pated assault.  On  the  4th  of  September,  a  band  of 
forty  painted  and  plumed  savages  came  to  the  fort, 
waving  a  white  flag,  and  informed  Capt.  Taylor  that 
in  the  morning  their  chief  would  come  to  have  a  talk 
with  him.  It  was  evident  that  their  object  was  merely 
to  ascertain  the  state  of  things  at  the  fort,  and  Capt. 
Taylor,  well  versed  in  the  wiles  of  the  savages,  kept 
them  at  a  distance. 

The  sun  went  down ;  the  savages  disappeared,  the 
garrison  slept  upon  their  arms.  One  hour  before 
midnight  the  war-whoop  burst  from  a  thousand  lips 
in  the  forest  around,  followed  by  the  discharge  of 
musketry,  and  the  rush  of  the  foe.  Every  man,  sick 
and  well,  sprang  to  his  post.  Every  man  knew  that 
defeat  was  not  .merely  death,  but  in  the  case  of  cap- 
ture, death  by  the  most  agonizing  and  prolonged  tor- 
ture. No  pen  can  describe,  no  immagination  can 
conceive  the  scenes  which  ensued.  The  savages  suc- 
ceeded in  setting  fire  to  one  of  the  block-houses- 
Until  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  this  awful  conflict 
continued.  The  savages  then,  baffled  at  every  point, 
and  gnashing  their  teeth  with  rage,  retired.  Capt. 
Taylor,  for  this  gallant  defence,  was  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  major  by  brevet. 

Until  the  close  of  the  war,  Major  Taylor  was  placed 
in  such  situations  that  he  saw  but  little  more  of  active 
service.  He  was  sent  far  away  into  the  depths  of  the 
wilderness,  to  Fort  Crawford,  on  Fox  River,  which 
empties  into  Green  Bay.  Here  there  was  but  little 
to  be  done  but  to  wear  away  the  tedious  hours  as  ono 
best  could.  There  were  no  books,  no  society,  no  in- 


ZACHARY  TAYLOR. 


tellectuai  stimulus.  Thus  with  him  the  uneventful 
years  rolled  on  Gradually  ne  rose  to  the  rank  of 
colonel.  In  the  Black-Hawk  war,  which  resulted  in 
the  capture  of  that  renowned  chieftain,  Col  Taylor 
took  a  subordinate  but  a  brave  and  efficient  part. 

For  twenty-four  years  Col.  Taylor  was  engaged  in 
the  defence  of  the  frontiers,  in  scenes  so  remote,  and  in 
'employments  so  obscure,  that  his  name  was  unknown 
t>eyond  the  limits  of  his  own  immediate  acquaintance. 
Jn  the  year  1836,  he  was  sent  to  Florida  to  compel 
the  Seminole  Indians  to  vacate  that  region  and  re- 
tire beyond  the  Mississippi,  as  their  chiefs  by  treaty, 
iiac3  promised  they  should  do.  The  services  rendered 
tieie  secured  for  Col.  Taylor  the  high  appreciation  of 
ihe  Government;  and  as  a  reward,  he  was  elevated 
ic  ;he  rank  of  brigadier-general  by  brevet ;  and  soon 
ifter,  in  May,  1838,  was  appointed  to  the  chief  com- 
nand  of  the  United  States  troops  in  Florida. 

After  two  years  of  such  wearisome  employment 
imidst  the  everglades  of  the  peninsula,  Gen.  Taylor 
obtained,  at  his  own  request,  a  change  of  command, 
;nd  was  stationed  over  the  Department  of  the  South- 
west. This  field  embraced  Louisiana,  Mississippi, 
Alabama  and  Georgia.  Establishing  his  headquarters 
at  Fort  Jessup,  in  Louisiana,  he  removed  his  family 
to  a  plantation  which  he  purchased,  near  Baton  Rogue. 
Hi.-re  he  remained  for  five  years,  buried,  as  it  were, 
fiom  the  world,  but  faithfully  discharging  every  duty 
•jnvposed  upon  him. 

In  1846,  Gen.  Taylor  was  sent  to  guard  the  land 
bolween  the  Nueces  and  Rio  Grande,  the  latter  river 
being  the  boundary  of  Texas,  which  was  then  claimed 
"by  the  United  States.  Soon  the  war  with  Mexico 
was  brought  on,  and  at  Palo  Alto  and  Resaca  de  la 
PaJma,  Gen.  Taylor  won  brilliant  victories  over  the 
Mexicans.  The  rank  of  major-general  by  brevet 
was  then  conferred  upon  Gen.  Taylor,  and  his  name 
•was  received  with  enthusiasm  almost  everywhere  in 
the  Nation.  Then  came  the  battles  of  Monterey  and 
E  uena  Vista  in  which  he  won  signal  victories  over 
5c  jrces  much  larger  than  he  commanded. 

His  careless  habits  of  dress  and  his  unaffected 
simplicity,  secured  for  Gen.  Taylor  among  his  troops, 
ti/e  sobriquet  of  "Old  Rough  and  Ready.' 

The  tidings  of  the  brilliant  victory  of  Buena  Vista 
El/read  the  wildest  enthusiasm  over  the  country.  The 
name  of  Gen.  Taylor  was  on  every  one's  lips.  The 
W  hig  party  decided  to  take  advantage  of  this  wonder- 
fu/  popularity  in  bringing  forward  the  unpolished,  un- 
"  -.''?red,  honest  soldier  as  their  candidate  for  the 
Pi  esidency.  Gen.  Taylor  was  astonished  at  the  an- 
ncuncement, and  for  a  time  would  not  listen  toil;  de- 
cbiring  that  he  was  not  at  all  qualified  for  such  an 
oft  ice.  So  little  interest  had  he  taken  in  politics  that, 
fot  forty  years,  he  had  not  cast  a  vote.  It  was  not 
wnhout  chagrin  that  several  distinguished  statesmen 
w'ho  had  been  long  years  in  the  public  service  found 
'l.:flr  claims  set  aside  in  behalf  of  one  whose  name 


had  never  been  heard  of,  save  in  connection  with  Pa 
Alto,  Resaca  de  la  Palma,  Monterey  and  Buer 
Vista.  It  is  said  that  Daniel  Webster,  in  his  haste  n 
marked,  "  It  is  a  nomination  not  fit  to  be  made." 

Gen.  Taylor  was  not  an  eloquent  speaker  nor  a  fir 
writer  His  friends  took  possession  of  him,  and  pr< 
pared  such  few  communications  as  it  was  needfi 
should  be  presented  to  the  public.  The  popularity  < 
the  successful  warrior  swept  the  land.  He  was  tr 
umphantly  elected  over  two  opposing  candidates,- 
Gen.  Cass  and  Ex-President  Martin  Van  Burei 
Though  he  selected  an  excellent  cabinet,  the  goo 
old  man  found  himself  in  a  very  uncongenial  positioi 
and  was,  at  times,  sorely  perplexed  and  harassec 
His  mental  sufferings  were  very  severe,  and  probabl 
tended  to  hasten  his  death.  The  pro-slavery  part 
was  pushing  its  claims  with  tireless  energy,  exped 
tions  were  fitting  out  to  capture  Cuba  ;  California  wa 
pleading  for  admission  to  the  Union,  while  slaver 
stood  at  the  door  to  bar  her  out.  Gen.  Taylor  foun 
the  political  conflicts  in  Washington  to  be  far  moi 
trying  to  the  nerves  than  battles  with  Mexicans  c 
Indians. 

In  the  midst  of  all  these  troubles,  Gen.  Taylo 
after  he  had  occupied  the  Presidential  chair  but  littl 
over  a  year,  took  cold,  and  after  a  brief  sickness  < 
but  little  over  five  days,  died  on  the  pth  of  July,  1851 
His  last  words  were,  "  I  am  not  afraid  to  die.  I  ai 
ready.  I  have  endeavored  to  do  my  duty."  He  die 
universally  respected  and  beloved.  An  honest,  ur 
pretending  man,  he  had  been  steadily  growing  in  th 
affections  of  the  people ;  and  the  Nation  bitterly  h 
mented  his  death. 

Gen.  Scott,  who  was  thoroughly  acquainted  wit 
Gen.  Taylor,  gave  the  following  graphic  and  truthfi 
description  of  his  character: — "  With  a  good  store  ( 
common  sense,  Gen.  Taylor's  mind  had  not  been  er 
larged  and  refreshed  by  reading,  or  much  convers 
with  the  world.  Rigidity  of  ideas  was  the  const 
quence.  The  frontiers  and  small  military  posts  ha 
been  his  home.  Hence  he  was  quite  ignorant  for  hi 
rank,  and  quite  bigoted  in  his  ignorance.  His  sm 
plicity  was  child-like,  and  with  innumerable  prejii 
dices,  amusing  and  incorrigible,  well  suited  to  th 
tender  age.  Thus,  if  a  man,  however  respectablt 
chanced  to  wear  a  coat  of  an  unusual  color,  or  his  ha 
a  little  on  one  side  of  his  head;  or  an  officer  to  leav 
a  corner  of  his  handkerchief  dangling  from  an  out 
side  pocket, — in  any  such  case,  this  critic  held  th 
offender  to  be  a  coxcomb  (perhaps  something  worse' 
whom  he  would  not,  to  use  his  oft  repeated  phrase 
'touch  with  a  pair  of  tongs.' 

"Any  allusion  to  literature  beyond  good  old  Dil 
worth's  spelling-book,  on  the  part  of  one  wearing  ; 
sword,  was  evidence,  with  the  same  judge,  of  utte 
unfitness  for  heavy  marchings  and  combats.  In  short 
few  men  have  ever  had  a  more  comfortable,  **+™ 
saving  contempt  for  learning  of  every  kind.15 


Ffc.  LltH»r; 
•(  th« 


THIRTEENTH  PRESIDENT. 


ILLARD  FILLMORE,  thir- 
teenth President  of  the  United 
States,   was  born  at  Summer 
Hill,  Cayuga  Co.,   N.  Y  .,  on 
the  7th  of  January,  1800.  His 
'father  was  a  farmer,  and  ow- 
ing to  misfortune,  in  humble  cir- 
cumstances.    Of  his  mother,  the 
daughter  of  Dr.  Abiathar  Millard, 
of  Pittsfield,  Mass.,  it   has  been 
dd  that  she' possessed  an  intellect 
of  very  high  order,  united  with  much 
personal  loveliness,  sweetness  of  dis- 
position, graceful  manners  and   ex- 
quisite sensibilities.      She   died   in 
1831 ;  having  lived  to  see  her  son  a 
1        young  man  of  distinguished    prom- 
ise, though  she  was  not  permitted  to  witness  the  high 
dignity  which  he  finally  attained. 

In  consequence  of  the  secluded  home  and  limited 
means  of  his  father,  Millard  enjoyed  but  slender  ad- 
vantages for  education  in  his  early  years.  The  com- 
mon schools,  which  he  occasionally  attended  were 
very  imperfect  institutions;  and  books  were  scarce 
and  expensive.  There  was  nothing  then  in  his  char- 
acter to  indicate  the  brilliant  career  upon  which  he 
was  about  to  enter.  He  was  a  plain  farmer's  boy ; 
intelligent,  good-looking,  kind-hearted.  The  sacred 
influences  of  home  had  taught  him  to  revere  the  Bible, 
and  had  laid  the  foundations  of  an  upright  character. 
When  fourteen  years  of  age,  his  father  sent  him 
some  hundred  miles  from  home,  to  the  then  wilds  of 
Livingston  County,  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  clothier. 
Neai  the  mi'l  there  was  a  small  villiage,  where  some 


enterprising  man  had  commenced  the  collection  of  a 
village  library.  This  proved  an  inestimable  blessing 
to  young  Fillmore.  His  evenings  were  spent  in  read- 
ing. Soon  every  leisure  moment  was  occupied  with 
books.  His  thirst  for  knowledge  became  insatiate; 
and  the  selections  which  he  made  were  continually 
more  elevating  and  instructive.  He  read  history; 
biography,  oratory,  and  thus  gradually  there  was  en- 
kindled in  his  heart  a  desire  to  be  something  more 
than  a  mere  worker  with  his  hands;  and  he  was  be' 
coming,  almost  unknown  to  himself,  a  well-informed, 
educated  man. 

The  young  clothier  had  now  attained  the  age  of 
nineteen  years,  and  was  of  fine  personal  appearance 
and  of  gentlemanly  demeanor.  It  so  happened  thai 
there  was  a  gentleman  in  the  neighborhood  of  ample 
pecuniary  means  and  of  benevolence, — Judge  Walter 
Wood, — who  was  struck  with  the  prepossessing  ap- 
pearance of  young  Fillmore.  He  made  his  acquaint- 
ance, and  was  so  much  impressed  with  his  ability  and 
attainments  that  he  advised  him  to  abandon  his 
trade  and  devote  himself  to  the  study  of  the  law.  The 
young  man  replied,  that  he  had  no  means  of  his  own, 
no  friends  to  help  him  and  that  his  previous  educa- 
tion had  been  very  imperfect.  But  Judge  Wood  had 
so  much  confidence  in  him  that  he  kindly  offered  to 
take  him  into  his  own  office,  and  to  loan  him  such 
money  as  he  needed.  Most  gratefully  the  generous 
offer  was  accepted. 

There  is  in  many  minds  a  strange  delusion  about)* 
a  collegiate  education.  A  young  man  is  supposed  to 
be  liberally  educated  if  he  has  graduated  at  some  col- 
lege. But  many  a  boy  loiters  through  university  hul'  > 
<ind  then  enters  a  law  office,  who  is  by  no  means  as 


MILLARD  FILLMORE. 


well  prepared  to  prosecute  his  legal  studies  as  was 
Millard  Fillmore  when  he  graduated  at  the  clothing- 
mill  at  the  end  of  four  years  of  manual  labor,  during 
which  every  leisure  moment  had  been  devoted  to  in- 
tense mental  culture. 

In  1823,  when  twenty-three  years  of  age,  he  was 
admitted  to  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  He  then 
went  to  the  village  of  Aurora,  and  commenced  the 
practice  of  law.  In  this  secluded,  peaceful  region, 
his  practice  of  course  was  limited,  and  there  was  no 
opportunity  for  a  sudden  rise  in  fortune  or  in  fame. 
Here,  in  the  year  1826,  he  married  a  lady  of  great 
moral  worth,  and  one  capable  of  adorning  any  station 
she  might  be  called  to  fill, — Miss  Abigail  Powers. 

His  elevation  of  character,  his  untiring  industry, 
his  legal  acquirements,  and  his  skill  as  an  advocate, 
gradually  attracted  attention ;  and  he  was  invited  to 
enter  into  partnership  under  highly  advantageous 
circumstances,  with  an  elder  member  of  the  bar  in 
Buffalo.  Just  before  removing  to  Buffalo,  in  1829, 
he  took  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Assembly,  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  as  a  representative  from  Erie 
County.  Though  he  had  never  taken  a  very  active 
part  in  politics,  his  vote  and  his  sympathies  were  with 
the  Whig  party.  The  State  was  then  Democratic, 
and  he  found  himself  in  a  helpless  minority  in  the 
Legislature ,  still  the  testimony  comes  from  all  parties, 
that  his  courtesy,  ability  and  integrity,  won,  to  a  very 
unusual  degrc  e  the  respect  of  his  associates. 

In  the  autumn  of  1832,  he  was  elected  to  a  seat  in 
the  United  States  Congress.  He  entered  that  troubled 
arena  in  some  of  the  most  tumultuous  hours  of  our 
national  history.  The  great  conflict  respecting  the 
national  bank  and  the  removal  of  the  deposits,  was 
then  raging. 

His  term  of  two  years  closed  ;  and  he  returned  to 
his  profession,  which  he  pursued  with  increasing  rep- 
utation and  success.  After  a  lapse  of  two  years 
he  again  became  a  candidate  for  Congress ;  was  re- 
elected,  and  took  his  seat  in  1837.  His  past  expe- 
rience as  a  representative  gave  him  st«ength  and 
confidence.  The  first  term  of  service  in  Congress  to 
any  man  can  be  but  little  more  than  an  introduction. 
He  was  now  prepared  for  active  duty.  All  his  ener- 
gies were  brought  to  bear  upon  the  public  good.  Every 
measure  received  his  impress. 

Mr.  Fillmore  was  now  a  man  of  wide  repute,  and 
his  popularity  filled  the  State,  and  in  the  year  1847, 
he  was  elected  Comptroller  of  the  State. 


Mr.  Fillmore  had  attained  the  age  of  forty-seve 
years.  His  labors  at  the  bar,  in  the  Legislature,  i 
Congress  and  as  Comptroller,  had  given  him  very  coi 
siderable  fame.  The  Whigs  were  casting  about  t 
find  suitable  candidates  for  President  and  Vice-Pres 
dent  at  the  approaching  election.  Far  away,  on  tl: 
waters  of  the  Rio  Grande,  there  was  a  rough  ol 
soldier,  who  had  fought  one  or  two  successful  battle 
with  the  Mexicans,  which  had  caused  his  name  to  h 
proclaimed  in  tiumpet-tones  all  over  the  land.  Bi 
it  was  necessary  to  associate  with  him  on  the  sarc 
ticket  some  man  of  reputation  as  a  statesman. 

Under  the  influence  of  these  considerations,  tr 
namesof  Zachary  Taylor  and  Millard  Fillmore  becarv 
the  rallying-cry  of  the  Whigs,  as  their  candidates  fc 
President  and  Vice-Peesident.  The  Whig  ticket  wj 
signally  triumphant.  On  the  4th  of  March,  1841 
Gen.  Taylor  was  inaugurated  President,  and  Millai 
Fillmore  Vice-President,  of  the  United  States. 

On  the  pth  of  July,  1850,  President  Taylor,  bi 
about  one  year  and  four  months  after  his  inaugur; 
tion,  was  suddenly  taken  sick  and  died.  By  the  Coi 
stitution,  Vice-President  Fillmore  thus  became  Pres 
dent.  He  appointed  a  very  able  cabinet,  of  whic 
the  illustrious  Daniel  Webster  was  Secretary  of  Stat 

Mr.  Fillmore  had  very  serious  difficulties  to  conten 
with,  since  the  opposition  had  a  majority  in  bol 
Houses.  He  did  everything  in  his  power  to  concilia 
the  South ;  but  the  pro-slavery  party  in  the  South  fe 
the  inadequacy  of  all  measuresof  transient  conciliatio 
The  population  of  the  free  States  was  so  rapidly  ii 
creasing  over  that  of  the  slave  States  that  it  was  ii 
evitable  that  the  power  of  the  Government  shoui 
soon  pass  into  the  hands  of  the  free  States.  Tr 
famous  compromise  measures  were  adopted  under  M 
Fillmcre's  adminstration,  and  the  Japan  Expeditio 
was  sent  out.  On  the  4th  of  March,  1853,  Mr.  Fil 
more,  having  served  one  term,  retired. 

In  1856,  Mr.  Fillmore  was  nominated  for  the  Pre; 
idency  by  the  "  Know  Nothing  "  party,  but  was  beate 
by  Mr.  Buchanan.  After  that  Mr.  Fillmore  lived  i 
retirement.  During  the  terrible  conflict  of  civil  wa 
he  was  mostly  silent.  It  was  generally  supposed  \\iz 
his  sympathies  were  rather  with  those  who  were  en 
deavoring  to  overthrow  our  institutions.  Presides 
Fillmore  kept  aloof  from  the  conflict,  without  an 
cordial  words  of  cheer  to  the  one  party  or  the  othei 
He  was  thus  forgotten  by  both.  He  lived  to  a  rip 
old  age,  and  died  in  Buffalo.  N.  Y.,  March  8,  1874 


Ik.  Llbitry 

•f  the 
IMnratty  of  (life* 


FOURTEENTH  PRESIDENT. 


FIERCE 

^^*&&^*&&^<il^&^JMyb&bMii±Mii*M 


RANKLIN    PIERCE,   the 
fourteenth   President  of  the 
United  States,  was  born  in 
Hillsborough,    N.    H.,    Nov. 
23,  1804.     His  father  was  a 
Revolutionary  soldier,  who, 
with   his   own    strong    arm, 
hewed   out  a   home   in   the 
wilderness.     He  was  a  man 
of    inflexible    integrity;    of 
strong,  though   uncultivated 
mind,  and  an  uncompromis- 
ing Democrat.      The   mother  of 
Franklin  Pierce  was  all  that  a  son 
could  desire, — an  intelligent,  pru- 
dent, affectionate,  Christian  wom- 
an.    Franklin  was  the  sixth  of  eight  children. 

Franklin  was  a  very  bright  and  handsome  boy,  gen- 
erous, warm-hearted  and  brave.  He  won  alike  the 
love  of  old  and  young.  The  boys  on  the  play -ground 
loved  him.  His  teachers  loved  him.  The  neighbors 
looked  upon  him  with  pride  and  affection.  He  was 
by  instinct  a  gentleman;  always  speaking  kind  words, 
doing  kind  deeds,  with  a  peculiar  unstudied  tact 
which  taught  him  what  was  agreeable.  Without  de- 
veloping any  precocity  of  genius,  or  any  unnatural 
devotion  to  books,  he  was  a  good  scholar ;  in  body, 
in  mind,  in  affections,  a  finely-developed  boy. 

When  sixteen  years  of  age,  in  the  year  1820,  he 
entered  Bowdoin  College,  at  Brunswick,  Me.  He  was 
one  of  the  most  popular  young  men  in  the  college. 
The  purity  cf  his  moral  character,  the  unvarying 
courtesy  of  his  demeanor,  his  rank  as  a  scholar,  and 


genial  nature,  rendered  him  a  universal  favorite. 
There  was  something  very  peculiarly  winning  in  his 
address,  and  it  was  evidently  not  in  the  slightest  de- 
gree studied:  it  was  the  simple  outgushing  of  his 
own  magnanimous  and  loving  nature. 

Upon  graduating,  in  the  year  1824,  Franklin  Pierce 
commenced  the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Judge 
Woodbury,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  lawyers  of 
the  State,  and  a  man  of  great  private  worth.  The 
eminent  social  qualities  of  the  young  lawyer,  his 
father's  prominence  as  a  public  man,  and  the  brilliant 
political  career  into  which  Judge  Woodbury  was  en' 
tering,  all  tended  to  entice  Mr.  Pierce  into  the  faci- 
nating  yet  perilous  path  of  political  life.  With  all 
the  ardor  of  his  nature  he  espoused  the  cause  of  Gen. 
Jackson  for  the  Presidency.  He  commenced  the 
practice  of  law  in  Hillsborough,  and  was  soon  elected 
to  represent  the  town  in  the  State  Legislature.  Here 
he  served  for  four  yeais.  The  last  two  years  he  was 
chosen  speaker  of  the  house  by  a  very  large  vote. 

In  1833,  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine,  he  was  elected 
a  member  of  Congress.  Without  taking  an  active 
part  in  debates,  he  was  faithful  and  laborious  in  duty 
and  ever  rising  in  the  estimation  of  those  with  whom 
he  was  associatad. 

In  1837,  being  then  but  thirty-three  years  of  age, 
he  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States; 
taking  his  seat  just  as  Mr.  Van  Buren  commenced 
his  administration.  He  was  the  youngest  memberin 
the  Senate.  In  the  year  1834,  he  married  Miss  Jane 
Means  Appleton,  a  lady  of  rare  beauty  and  accom- 
plishments, and  one  admirably  fitted  to  adorn  every 
station  with  which  her  husband  was  honoied.  Of  the 


bRANKLIN  PIERCE. 


three  sons  who  were  born  to  them,  all  now  sleep  with 
their  parents  in  the  grave. 

In  the  year  1838,  Mr.  Pierce,  with  growing  fame 
and  increasing  business  as  a  lawyer,  took  up  his 
residence  in  Concord,  the  capital  of  New  Hampshire. 
President  Polk,  upon  his  accession  to  office,  appointed 
Mr.  Pierce  attorney-general  of  the  United  States;  but 
the  offer  was  declined,  in  consequence  of  numerous 
professional  engagements  at  home,  and  the  precariuos 
state  of  Mrs.  Pierce 's  health.  He  also,  about  the 
same  time  declined  the  nomination  for  governor  by  the 
Democratic  party.  The  war  with  Mexico  called  Mr. 
Pierce  in  the  army.  Receiving  the  appointment  of 
brigadier-general,  he  embarked,  with  a  portion  of  his 
troops,  at  Newport,  R.  I.,  on  the  ayth  of  May,  1847. 
He  took  an  important  part  in  this  war,  proving  him- 
self a  brave  and  true  soldier. 

When  Gen.  Pierce  reached  his  home  in  his  native 
State,  he  was  received  enthusiastically  by  the  advo- 
cates of  the  Mexican  war,  and  coldly  by  his  oppo- 
nents. He  resumed  the  practice  of  his  profession, 
very  frequently  taking  an  active  part  in  political  ques- 
tions, giving  his  cordial  support  to  the  pro-slavery 
wing  of  the  Democratic  party.  The  compromise 
measures  met  cordially  with  his  approval ;  and  he 
Strenuously  advocated  the  enforcement  of  the  infa- 
inous  fugitive-slave  law,  which  so  shocked  the  religious 
sensibilities  of  the  North.  He  thus  became  distin- 
guished as  a  "Northern  man  with  Southern  principles."' 
The  strong  partisans  of  slavery  in  the  South  conse- 
quently regarded  him  as  a  man  whom  they  could 
safely  trust  in  office  to  carry  out  their  plans. 

On  the  I2th  of  June,  1852,  the  Democratic  conven- 
tion met  in  Baltimore  to  nominate  a  candidate  for  the 
Presidency.  For  four  days  they  continued  in  session, 
and  in  thirty-five  ballotings  no  one  had  obtained  a 
two-thirds  vote.  Not  a  vote  thus  far  had  been  thrown 
for  Gen.  Pierce.  Then  the  Virginia  delegation 
brought  forward  his  name.  There  were  fourteen 
more  ballotings,  during  which  Gen.  Pierce  constantly 
gained  strength,  until,  at  the  forty-ninth  ballot,  he 
received  two  hundred  and  eighty-two  votes,  and  all 
other  candidates  eleven.  Gen.  Winfield  Scott  was 
the  Whig  candidate.  Gen.  Pierce  was  chosen  with 
great  unanimity.  Only  four  States — Vermont,  Mas- 
sachusetts, Kentucky  and  Tennessee  —  cast  their 
electoral  votes  against  him  Gen.  Franklin  Pierce 
was  therefore  inaugurated  President  of  the  United 
States  en  the  4th  of  March,  1853. 


His  administration  proved  one  of  the  most  stormy  01 
country  had  ever  experienced.  The  controversy  bi 
tween  slavery  and  freedom  was  then  approaching  i 
culminating  point.  It  became  evident  that  there  w< 
an  "  irrepressible  conflict  "  between  them,  and  th; 
this  Nation  could  not  long  exist  "  half  slave  and  ha 
free."  President  Pierce,  during  the  whole  of  his  ac 
ministration,  did  every  thing  he  could  to  concilia! 
the  South  ;  but  it  was  all  in  vain.  The  conflict  evei 
year  grew  more  violent,  and  threats  of  the  dissolutio 
of  the  Union  were  borne  to  the  North  on  every  Soutl 
ern  breeze. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  affairs  when  Presidei 
Pierce  approached  the  close  of  his  four-years'  ten 
of  office.  The  North  had  become  thoroughly  alier 
ated  from  him.  The  anti-slavery  sentiment,  goade 
by  great  outrages,  had  been  rapidly  increasing;  a 
the  intellectual  ability  and  social  worth  of  Presider 
Pierce  were  forgotten  in  deep  reprehension  of  his  ac 
ministrative  acts.  The  slaveholders  of  the  South,  alsi 
unmindful  of  the  fidelity  with  which  he  had  advc 
cated  those  measures  of  Government  which  they  aj 
proved,  and  perhaps,  also,  feeling  that  he  ha 
rendered  himself  so  unpopular  as  no  longer  to  b 
able  acceptably  to  serve  them,  ungratefully  droppe 
him,  and  nominated  James  Buchanan  to  succeed  hin 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1857,  President  Pierce  r< 
tired  to  his  home  in  Concord.  Of  three  children,  tw 
had  died,  and  his  only  surviving  child  had  bee 
killed  before  his  eyes  by  a  railroad  accident ;  and  h: 
wife,  one  of  the  most  estimable  and  accomplished  < 
ladies,  was  rapidly  sinking  in  consumption.  Th 
hour  of  dreadful  gloom  soon  came,  and  he  was  le 
alone  in  the  world,  without  wife  or  child. 

When  the  terrible  Rebellion  burst  forth,  which  d 
vided  our  country  into  two  parties,  and  two  only,  M 
Pierce  remained  steadfast  in  the  principles  which  \ 
had  always  cherished,  and  gave  his  sympathies  1 
that  pro-slavery  party  with  which  he  had  ever  bee 
allied.  He  declined  to  do  anything,  either  by  voi( 
or  pen,  to  strengthen  the  hand  of  the  National  Go' 
ernment.  He  continued  to  reside  in  Concord  unt 
the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  in  Octobe 
1869.  He  was  one  of  the  most  genial  and  social  < 
men,  an  honored  communicant  of  the  Episcop; 
Church,  and  one  of  the  kindest  of  neighbors.  Ger 
erous  to  a  fault,  he  contributed  liberally  for  the  a 
leviation  of  suffering  and  want,  and  many  of  his  town 
people  were  often  gladened  by  his  material  bount 


to  library 

tf  th< 


C — 


t  m*  J  < 


FIFTEENTH  PRESIDENT. 


AMES  BUCHANAN,  the  fif- 
teenth President  of  the  United 
States,  was  born  in  a  small 
frontier  town,  at  the  foot  of  the 
eastern  ridge  of  the  Allegha- 
nies,  in  Franklin  Co.,  Penn.,  on 
the  23d  of  April,  1791.  The  place 
where  the  humble  cabin  of  his 
father  stood  was  called  Stony 
Batter.  It  was  a  wild  and  ro- 
mantic spot  in  a  gorge  of  the  moun- 
tains, with  towering  summits  rising 
grandly  all  around.  His  father 
was  a  native  of  the  north  of  Ireland ; 
a  poor  man,  who  had  emigrated  in 
1783,  with  little  property  save  his 
own  strong  arms.  Five  years  afterwards  he  married 
Elizabeth  Spear,  the  daughter  of  a  respectable  farmer, 
and,  with  his  young  bride,  plunged  into  the  wilder- 
ness, staked  his  claim,  reared  his  log-hut,  opened  a 
clearing  with  his  axe,  and  settled  down  there  to  per- 
form his  obscure  part  in  the  drama  of  life.  In  this  se- 
cluded home,  where  James  was  born,  he  remained 
for  eight  years,  enjoying  but  few  social  or  intellectual 
advantages.  When  James  was  eight  years  of  age,  his 
father  removed  to  the  village  of  Mercersburg,  where 
his  son  was  placed  at  school,  and  commenced  a 
course  of  study  in  English,  Latin  and  Greek.  His 
progress  was  rapid,  and  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  he 
entered  Dickinson  College,  at  Carlisle.  Here  he  de- 
veloped remarkable  talent,  and  took  his  stand  among 
the  first  scholars  in  the  institution.  His  application 
to  study  was  intense,  and  yet  his  native  powers  en- 


abled him  to  master  the  most  abstruse  subjects  wi  "• 
facility. 

In  the  year  1809,  he  graduated  with  the  highest 
honors  of  his  clast.1.  He  was  then  eighteen  years  oi 
age;  tall  and  graceful,  vigorous  in  health,  fond  of 
athletic  sport,  an  unerring  shot,  and  enlivened  with 
an  exuberant  flow  of  animal  spirits.  He  immediately 
commenced  the  study  of  law  in  the  city  of  Lancaster, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1812,  when  he  was 
but  twenty-one  years  of  age.  Very  rapidly  he  rose 
in  his  profession,  and  at  once  took  undisputed  stand 
with  the  ablest  lawyers  of  the  State.  When  but 
twenty-six  years  of  age,  unaided  by  counsel,  he  suc- 
cessfully defended  before  the  State  Senate  ore  of  the 
judges  of  the  State,  who  was  tried  upon  articles  o) 
impeachment.  At  the  age  of  thirty  it  was  generally 
admitted  that  he  stood  at  the  head  of  the  bar;  and 
there  was  no  lawyer  in  the  State  who  had  a  more  lu- 
crative practice. 

In  1820,  he  reluctantly  consented  to  run  as  a 
candidate  for  Congress.  He  was  elected,  and  foi 
ten  years  he  remained  a  member  of  the  Lower  House 
During  the  vacations  of  Congress,  he  occasionally 
tried  some  important  case.  In  1831,  he  retired 
altogether  from  the  toils  of  his  profession,  having  ac- 
quired an  ample  fortune. 

Gen.  Jackson,  upon  his  elevation  to  the  Presidency 
appointed  Mr.  Buchanan  minister  to  Russia.  The 
duties  of  his  mission  he  performed  with  ability,  whicl, 
gave  satisfaction  to  all  parties.  Upon  his  return,  ir, 
1833,  he  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  United  States 
Senate.  He  there  met,  as  his  associates,  Webster. 
Clay,  Wright  and  Calhoun.  He  advocated  the  meas- 
ures proposed  by  President  Jackson,  of  mating  repri- 


76 


JAMES  BUCHANAN. 


sals  against  France,  to  enforce  the  payment  of  our 
claims  against  that  country;  and  defended  the 
course  of  the  President  in  his  unprecedented  and 
wholesale  removal  from  office  of  those  who  were 
not  the  supporters  of  his  administration.  Upon 
this  question  he  was  brought  into  direct  collision 
with  Henry  Clay.  He  also,  with  voice  and  vote,  ad- 
vocated expunging  from  the  journal  of  the  Senate 
the  vote  of  censure  against  Gen.  Jackson  for  remov- 
ing the  deposits.  Earnestly  he  opposed  the  aboli- 
tion of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and 
urged  the  prohibition  of  the  circulation  of  anti- 
slavery  documents  by  the  United  States  mails. 

As  to  petitions  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  he  ad- 
vocated that  they  should  be  respectfully  received; 
and  that  the  reply  should  be  returned,  that  Con- 
gress had  no  power  to  legislate  upon  the  subject. 
"Congress,"  said  he,  "might  as  well  undertake  to 
interfere  with  slavery  under  a  foreign  government 
as  in  any  of  the  States  where  it  now  exists." 

Upon  Mr.  Folk's  accession  to  the  Presidency,  Mr. 
Buchanan  became  Secretary  of  State,  and  as  such, 
took  his  share  of  the  responsibility  in  the  conduct 
of  the  Mexican  War.  Mr.  Polk  assumed  that  cross- 
ing the  Nueces  by  the  American  troops  into  the 
disputed  territory  was  not  wrong,  but  for  the  Mex- 
icans to  cross  the  Rio  Grande  into  that  territory 
was  a  declaration  of  war.  No  candid  man  can  read 
with  pleasure  the  account  of  the  course  our  Gov- 
ernment pursued  in  that  movement. 

Mr.  Buchanan  identified  himself  thoroughly  with 
the  party  devoted  to  the  perpetuation  and  extension 
of  slavery,  and  brought  all  the  energies  of  his  mind 
to  bear  against  the  Wilmot  Proviso.  He  gave  his 
cordial  approval  to  the  compromise  measures  of 
1850,  which  included  the  fugitive  slave  law.  Mr. 
Pierce,  upon  his  election  to  the  Presidency,  hon- 
ored Mr.  Buchanan  with  the  mission  to  England. 

In  the  year  1856,  a  national  Democratic  conven- 
tion nominated  Mr.  Buchanan  for  the  Presidency. 
The  political  conflict  was  one  of  the  most  severe 
in  which  our  country  has  ever  engaged.  All  the 
friends  of  slavery  were  on  one  side;  all  the  advo- 
cates of  its  restriction  and  final  abolition  on  the 
other.  Mr.  Fremont,  the  candidate  of  the  enemies 
of  slavery,  received  114  electoral  votes.  Mr.  Bu- 
chanan received  174,  and  was  elected.  The  popular 
vote  stood  1,340,618  for  Fremont,  1,224,750  for 
Buchanan.  On  March  4,  1857,  Mr.  Buchanan  was 
inaugurated. 

Mr.  Buchanan  was  far  advanced  in  life.  Only 
four  years  were  wanting  to  fill  up  his  three-score 
years  and  ten.  His  own  friends,  those  with  whom 
he  had  been  allied  in  political  principles  and  action 
for  years,  were  seeking  the  destruction  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, that  they  might  rear  upon  the  ruins  of  our 
free  institutions  a  nation  whose  corner-stone  should 


be  human  slavery.  In  this  emergency,  Mr.  Bu- 
chanan was  hopelessly  bewildered.  He  could  not, 
with  his  long-avowed  principles,  consistently  op- 
pose the  State-rights  party  in  their  assumptions.  As 
President  of  the  United  States,  bound  by  his  oath 
faithfully  to  administer  the  laws,  he  could  not, 
without  perjury  of  the  grossest  kind,  unite  with 
those  endeavoring  to  overthrow  the  Republic.  He 
therefore  did  nothing. 

The  opponents  of  Mr.  Buchanan's  administration 
nominated  Abraham  Lincoln  as  their  standard- 
bearer  in  the  next  Presidential  canvass.  The  pro- 
slavery  party  declared  that  if  he  were  elected  and 
the  control  of  the  Government  were  thus  taken  from 
their  hands  they  would  secede  from  the  Union,  tak- 
ing with  them  as  they  retired  the  National  Capi- 
tol at  Washington  and  the  lion 's  share  of  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  United  States. 

As  the  storm  increased  in  violence,  the  slave- 
holders, claiming  the  right  to  secede,  and  Mr.  Bu- 
chanan avowing  that  Congress  had  no  power  to 
prevent  it,  one  of  the  most  pitiable  exhibitions  of 
governmental  imbecility  was  exhibited  the  world 
has  ever  seen.  He  declared  that  Congress  had  no 
power  to  enforce  its  laws  in  any  State  which  had 
withdrawn,  or  which  was  attempting  to  withdraw, 
from  the  Union.  This  was  not  the  doctrine  of  An- 
drew  Jackson,  when,  with  his  hand  upon  his  sword- 
hilt,  he  exclaimed.  "The  Union  must  and  shall  be 
preserved!" 

South  Carolina  seceded  in  December,  1860,  nearly 
three  months  before  the  inauguration  of  President 
Lincoln.  Mr.  Buchanan  looked  on  in  listless  de- 
spair. The  rebel  flag  was  raised  in  Charleston;  Ft 
Sumter  was  besieged;  our  forts,  navy-yards  and 
arsenals  were  seized;  our  depots  of  military  stores 
were  plundered;  and  our  custom-houses  and  post- 
offices  were  appropriated  by  the  rebels. 

The  energy  of  the  rebels  and  the  imbecility  of 
our  Executive  were  alike  marvelous.  The  nation 
looked  on  in  agony,  waiting  for  the  slow  weeks  to 
glide  away  and  close  the  administration,  so  ter- 
rible in  its  weakness.  At  length  the  long-looked- 
for  hour  of  deliverance  came,  when  Abraham  Lin- 
coln was  to  receive  the  scepter. 

The  administration  of  President  Buchanan  was 
certainly  the  most  calamitous  our  country  has  ex- 
perienced. His  best  friends  cannot  recall  it  with 
pleasure.  And  still  more  deplorable  it  is  for  his 
fame,  that  in  that  dreadful  conflict  which  rolled  its 
billows  of  flame  and  blood  over  our  whole  land,  no 
word  came  from  his  lips  to  indicate  his  wish  that 
our  country's  banner  should  triumph  over  the  flag 
of  the  Rebellion.  He  died  at  his  Wheatland  re- 
treat, June  1,  1868. 


of  th« 


SIXTEENTH  PRESIDENT. 


BRAHAM  LINCOLN,  the 
sixteenth  President  of  the 
United  States,  was  born  in 
Hardin  Co.,  Ky.,  Feb.  12, 
1 809.  About  the  year  1 7  80,  a 
|.  man  by  the  name  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  left  Virginia  with  his 
family  and  moved  into  the  then 
wilds  of  Kentucky.  Only  two  years 
after  this  emigration,  still  a  young 
man,  while  working  one  day  in  a 
field,  was  stealthily  approached  by 
an  Indian  and  shot  dead.  His  widow 
was  left  in  extreme  poverty  with  five 
little  children,  three  boys  and  two 
girls.  Thomas,  the  youngest  of  the 
boys,  was  four  years  of  age  at  his 
father's  death.  This  Thomas  was 
the  father  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  the 
President  of  the  United  States 
whose  name  must  henceforth  forever  be  enrolled 
with  the  most  prominent  in  the  annals  of  our  world. 
Of  course  no  record  has  been  kept  of  the  life 
of  one  so  lowly  as  Thomas  Lincoln.  He  was  among 
the  poorest  of  the  poor.  His  home  was  a  wretched 
log-cabin;  his  food  the  coarsest  and  the  meanest. 
Education  he  had  none;  he  could  never  either  read 
or  write.  As  soon  as  he  was  able  to  do  anything  for 
himself,  he  was  compelled  to  leave  the  cabin  of  his 
starving  mother,  and  push  out  into  the  world,  a  friend- 
Jess,  wandering  boy,  seeking  work.  He  hired  him- 
self out,  and  thus  spent  the  whole  of  his  youth  as  a 
Tiborer  in  the  fields  of  others. 

When  twenty-eight  years  of  age  he  built  a  log- 
(abin  of  his  own,  and  married  Nancy  Hanks,  the 
daughter  of  another  family  of  poor  Kentucky  emi- 
grants, who  had  also  come  from  Virginia.  Their 
second  child  was  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch.  The  mother  of  Abraham  was  a  noble 
woman,  gentle,  loving,  pensive,  created  to  adorn 
.1  palace,  doomed  to  toil  and  pine,  and  die  in  a  hovel. 
''All  that  I  am,  or  hope  to  be,"  exclaims  the  grate- 
ful son  "I  owe  to  my  angel-mother.  " 

When  he  was  eight  years  of  age,  his  father  sold  his 


cabin  and  small  farm,  and  moved  to  Indiana,  Wher« 
two  years  later  his  mother  died. 

Abraham  soon  became  the  scribe  of  the  uneducated 
community  around  him.  He  could  not  have  had  a 
better  school  than  this  to  teach  him  to  put  thoughts 
into  words.  He  also  became  an  eager  reader.  The 
books  he  could  obtain  were  few ;  but  these  he  "cad 
and  re-read  until  they  were  almost  committed  to 
memory. 

As  the  years  rolled  on,  the  lot  of  this  lowly  family 
was  the  usual  lot  of  humanity.  There  were  joys  and 
griefs,  weddings  and  funerals.  Abraham's  sisto 
Sarah,  to  whom  he  was  tenderly  attached,  was  mai  • 
ried  when  a  child  of  but  fourteen  years  of  age,  and 
soon  died.  The  family  was  gradually  scattered.  Mr 
Thomas  Lincoln  sold  out  his  squatter's  claim  ;n  1830 
and  emigrated  to  Macon  Co.,  111. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  then  twenty-one  years  of  age^ 
With  vigorous  hands  he  aided  his  father  in  rearing 
another  log-cabin.  Abraham  worked  diligently  at  this 
until  he  saw  the  family  comfortably  settled,  and  theii 
small  lot  of  enclosed  prairie  planted  with  corn,  when 
he  announced  to  his  father  his  intention  to  leave 
home,  and  to  go  out  into  the  world  and  seek  his  for- 
tune. Little  did  he  or  his  friends  imagine  how  bril- 
liant that  fortune  was  to  be.  He  saw  the  value  ol 
education,  and  was  intensely  earnest  to  improve  his 
mind  to  the  utmost  of  his  power.  He  saw  the  ruin 
which  ardent  spirits  were  causing,  and  became 
strictly  temperate;  refusing  to  allow  a  drop  of  intoxi- 
cating liquor  to  pass  his  lips.  And  he  had  read  in 
God's  word,  "Thou  shall  not  take  the  name  of  th« 
Lord  thy  God  in  var. ;"  and  a  profane  expression  ha 
was  never  heard  to  utter.  Religion  he  revered.  Hi» 
morals  were  pure,  and  he  was  uncontaminated  by  a 
single  vice. 

Young  Abraham  worked  for  a  time  as  a  hired  labore 
among  the  farmers.  Then  he  went  to  Springfield 
where  he  was  employed  in  building  a  large  flat-boat 
In  this  he  took  a  herd  of  swine,  floated  them  dowi 
the  Sangamon  to  the  Illinois,  and  thence  by  the  Mia 
sissippi  to  New  Orleans.  Whatever  Abraham  Lin 
coin  undertook,  he  performed  so  faithfully  as  to  givt 
great  satisfaction  to  his  employers.  In  this  adven 


So 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


ture  his  employers  were  so  well  pleased,  that  upon 
his  return  they  placed  a  store  and  mill  under  his  care. 

In  1832,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Black  Hawk  war,  he 
enlisted  and  was  chosen  captain  of  a  company.  He 
returned  to  Sangamon  County,  and  although  only  23 
years  of  age,  was  a  candidate  for  the  Legislature,  but 
was  defeated.  He  soon  after  received,  from  Andrew 
Jackson  the  appointment  of  Postmaster  of  New  Salem, 
His  only  post-office  was  his  hat.  All  the  letters  he 
received  he  carried  there  ready  to  deliver  to  those 
he  chanced  to  meet.  He  studied  surveying,  and  soon 
made  this  his  business.  In  1834  he  again  became  a 
candidate  for  the  Legislature,  and  was  elected.  Mr. 
Stuart,  of  Springfield,  advised  him  to  study  law.  He 
walked  from  New  Salem  to  Springfield,  borrowed  of 
Mr.  Stuart  a  load  of  books,  carried  them  back  and 
began  his  legal  studies.  When  the  Legislature  as- 
sembled he  trudged  on  foot  with  his  pack  on  his  back 
one  hundred  miles  to  Vandalia,  then  the  capital.  In 
1836  he  was  re-elected  to  the  Legislature.  Here  it 
was  he  first  met  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  In  1839  he  re- 
moved to  Springfield  and  began  the  practice  of  law. 
His  success  with  the  jury  was  so  great  that  he  was 
soon  engaged  in  almost  every  noted  case  in  the  circuit. 

In  1854  the  great  discussion  began  between  Mr. 
Lincoln  and  Mr.  Douglas,  on  the  slavery  question. 
In  the  organization  of  the  Republican  party  in  Illinois, 
in  1856,  he  took  an  active  part,  and  at  once  became 
one  of  the  leaders  in  that  party.  Mr.  Lincoln's 
speeches  in  opposition  to  Senator  Douglas  in  the  con- 
test in.  1858  for  a  seat  in  the  Senate,  form  a  most 
notable  part  of  his  history.  The  issue  was  on  the 
slavery  question,  and  he  took  the  broad  ground  of 
ihe  Declaration  of  Independence,  that  all  men  are 
created  equal.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  defeated  in  this  con- 
test, but  won  a  far  higher  prize. 

The  great  Republican  Convention  met  at  Chicago 
on  the  i6th  of  June,  1860.  The  delegates  and 
strangers  who  crowded  the  city  amounted  to  twenty- 
five  thousand.  An  immense  building  called  "  The 
Wigwam,"  was  reared  to  accommodate  the  Conven- 
tion. There  were  eleven  candidates  for  whom  votes 
were  thrown.  William  H.  Seward,  a  man  whose  fame 
as  a  statesman  had  long  filled  the  land,  was  the  most 
prominent.  It  was  generally  supposed  he  would  be 
the  nominee.  Abraham  Lincoln,  however,  received 
the  nomination  on  the  third  ballot.  Little  did  he  then 
dream  of  the  weary  years  of  toil  and  care,  and  the 
bloody  death,  to  which  that  nomination  doomed  him : 
and  as  little  did  he  dream  that  he  was  to  render  services 
to  his  country,  which  would  fix  upon  him  the  eyes  of 
the  whole  civilized  world,  and  which  would  give  him 
a  place  in  the  affections  of  his  countrymen,  second 
cnly,  if  second,  to  that  of  Washington. 

Election  day  came  and  Mr.  Lincoln  received  180 
electoral  votes  out  of  203  cast,  and  was,  therefore, 
constitutionally  elected  President  of  the  United  States. 
The  tirade  of  abuse  that  vas  poured  upon  this  good 


and  merciful  man,  especially  by  the  slaveholders,  was 
greater  than  upon  any  other  man  ever  elected  to  this 
high  position.  In  February,  1861,  Mr.  Lincoln  started 
for  Washington,  stopping  in  all  the  large  cities  on  his 
way  making  speeches.  The  whole  journey  was  fraught 
with  much  danger.  Many  of  the  Southern  States  had 
already  seceded,  and  several  attempts  at  assassination 
were  afterwards  brought  to  light.  A  gang  in  Balti- 
more had  arranged,  upon  his  arrival  to  "  get  up  a  row," 
and  in  the  confusion  to  make  sure  of  his  death  with 
revolvers  and  hand-grenades.  A  detective  unravelled 
the  plot.  A  secret  and  special  train  was  p-ovided  to 
take  him  from  Harrisburg,  through  Baltimore,  at  an 
unexpected  hour  of  the  night.  The  train  sorted  at 
half-past  ten  ;  and  to  prevent  any  possible  communi- 
cation on  the  part  ot  the  Secessionists  with  their  Con- 
federate gang  in  Barltimore,  as  soon  as  the  train  had 
started  the  telegraph-wires  were  cut.  Mr.  Lincoln 
reached  Washington  in  safety  and  was  inaugurated, 
although  great  anxiety  was  felt  by  all  loyal  people 

In  the  selection  of  his  cabinet  Mr.  Lincoln  gave 
to  Mr.  Seward  the  Department  of  State,  and  to  other 
prominent  opponents  before  the  convention  he  gave 
important  positions. 

During  no  other  administration  have  the  duties 
devolving  upon  the  President  been  so  manifold,  and 
the  responsibilities  so  great,  as  those  which  fell  to 
the  lot  of  President  Lincoln.  Knowing  this,  and 
feeling  his  own  weakness  and  inability  to  meet,  and  in 
his  own  strength  to  cope  with,  the  difficulties,  he 
learned  early  to  seek  Divine  wisdom  and  guidance  in 
determining  his  plans,  and  Divine  comfort  in  all  his 
trials,  both  personal  and  national.  Contrary  to  his 
own  estimate  of  himself,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  one  of  the 
most  courageous  of  men.  He  went  directly  into  the 
rebel  capital  just  as  the  retreating  foe  was  leaving, 
with  no  guard  but  a  few  sailors.  From  the  time  he 
had  left  Springfield,  in  1861,  however,  plans  had  been 
made  for  his  assassination.and  he  at  last  fell  a  victim 
to  one  of  them.  April  14,  1865,  he,  with  Gen.  Grant, 
was  urgently  invited  to  attend  Fords'  Theater.  It 
was  announced  that  they  would  be  present.  Gen. 
Grant,  however,  left  the  city.  President  Lincoln,  feel- 
ing, wiili  his  characteristic  kindliness  of  heart,  that 
it  would  be  a  disappointment  if  he  should  fail  them, 
very  reluctantly  consented  to  go.  While  listening  to 
the  play  an  actor  by  the  name  of  John  Wilkes  Booth 
entered  the  box  where  the  President  and  family  were 
seated,  and  fired  a  bullet  into  his  brains.  He  died  the 
next  morning  at  seven  o'clock. 

Never  before,  in  the  history  of  the  world  was  a  nation 
plunged  into  such  deep  grief  by  the  death  of  its  ruler. 
Strong  men  met  in  the  streets  and  wept  in  speechless 
anguish.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  a  nation  was 
in  tears.  His  was  a  life  which  will  fitly  become  a 
model.  His  name  as  the  savior  of  his  country  w:M 
live  with  that  of  Washington's,  its  father;  his  c^untry- 
mer.  being  unable  to  decide  which  is  t^e  greater. 


of  the 
of 


SEVENTEENTH  PRESIDENT. 


NDREW  JOHNSON,  seven- 
teenth President  of  the  United 
"States.  The  early  life  of 
Andrew  Johnson  contains  but 
the  record  of  poverty,  destitu- 
tion and  friendlessness.  He 
/  was  born  December  29,  1808, 
in  Raleigh,  N.  C.  His  parents, 
belonging  to  the  class  of  the 
"poor  whites  "  of  the  South,  were 
in  such  circumstances,  that  they 
could  not  confer  ;_,'ei\  the  slight- 
est advantages  of  education  upon 
their  child.  When  Andrew  was  five 
I  years  of  age,  his  father  accidentally 
lost  his  life  while  herorically  endeavoring  to  save  a 
friend  from  drowning.  TTruil  teri  /ears  of  age,  Andrew 
was  a  ragged  boy  about  the  streets,  supported  by  the 
labor  of  his  mother,  who  obtained  her  living  with 
her  own  hands. 

He  then,  having  never  attended  a  school  one  day, 
and  being  unable  either  to  read  or  write,  was  ap- 
prenticed to  a  tailor  in  his  native  town.  A  gentleman 
was  in  the  habit  of  going  to  the  tailor's  shop  occasion- 
ally, and  reading  to  the  boys  at  work  there.  He  often 
read  from  the  speeches  of  distinguished  British  states- 
men. Andrew,  who  was  endowed  with  a  mind  of  more 
than  ordinary  native  ability,  became  much  interested 
in  these  speeches;  his  ambition  was  roused,  and  he 
was  inspired  with  a  strong  desire  to  learn  to  read. 

He  accordingly  applied  himself  to  the  alphabet,  and 
with  the  assistance  of  some  of  his  fellow-workmen, 
iearned  his  letters.  He  then  called  upon  the  gentle- 
man to  borrow  the  book  of  speeches.  The  owner, 


pleased  with  his  zeal,  not  only  gave  him  the  booK; 
but  assisted  him  in  learning  to  combine  the  letters 
into  words.  Under  such  difficulties  he  pressed  oi- 
ward  laboriously,  spending  usually  ten  or  twelve  hours 
at  work  in  the  shop,  and  then  robbing  himself  of  rest 
and  recreatior  to  devote  such  time  as  he  could  to 
reading. 

He  went  to  Tennessee  in  1826,  and  located  at. 
Greenville,  where  he  married  a  young  lady  who  pos 
sessed  some  education.  Under  her  instructions  he 
learned  to  write  and  cipher.  He  became  prominer.; 
in  the  village  debating  society,  and  a  favorite  with 
the  students  of  Greenville  College.  In  1828,  he  or- 
ganized  a  working  man's  party,  which  elected  him 
alderman,  and  in  1830  elected  him  mayor,  which 
position  he  held  three  years. 

He  now  began  to  take  a  lively  interest  in  political 
affairs ;  identifying  himself  with  the  working-classes, 
to  which  he  belonged.  In  1835,  he  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Tennes- 
see. He  was  then  just  twenty-seven  years  of  age. 
He  became  a  very  active  member  of  the  legislature 
gave  his  adhesion  to  the  Democratic  party,  and  in 
1840  "stumped  the  State,"  advocating  Martin  Tan 
Buren's  claims  to  the  Presidency,  in  opposition  to  thosv 
of  Gen.  Harrison.  In  this  campaign  he  acquired  much 
readiness  as  a  speaker,  and  extended  and  increased 
his  reputation. 

In  1841,  he  was  elected  State  Senator;  in  1843,  he 
was  elected  a  member  of  Congress,  and  by  successive 
elections,  held  that  important  post  for  ten  years.  In 
1853,  he  was  elected  Governor  of  Tennessee,  and' 
was  re-elected  in  1855.  In  all  these  responsible  posi- 
tions, he  discharged  his  duties  with  distinguished  abi. 


ANDREW  JOHNSON. 


ity,  and  proved  himself  the  warm  friend  of  the  work- 
ing classes.  In  1857,  Mr.  Johnson  was  elected 
United  States  Senator. 

Years  before,  in  1845,  he  had  warmly  advocated 
the  annexation  of  Texas,  stating  however,  as  his 
reason,  that  he  thought  this  annexation  would  prob- 
ably prove  "  to  be  the  gateway  out  of  which  the  sable 
sons  of  Africa  are  to  pass  from  bondage  to  freedom, 
and  become  merged  in  a  population  congenial  to 
themselves."  In  1850,  he  also  supported  the  com- 
promise measures,  the  two  essential  features  of  which 
were,  that  the  white  people  of  the  Territories  should 
oe  permitted  to  decide  for  themselves  whether  they 
would  enslave  the  colored  people  or  not,  and  that 
the  ^ree  States  of  the  North  should  return  to  the 
South  persons  who  attempted  to  escape  from  slavery. 

Mr.  Johnson  was  never  ashamed  of  his  lowly  origin: 
on  the  contrary,  he  often  took  pride  in  avowing  that 
he  owed  his  distinction  to  his  own  exertions.  "Sir,"' 
said  he  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  "  I  do  not  forget 
that  I  am  a  mechanic ;  neither  do  I  forget  that  Adam 
was  a  tailor  and  sewed  fig-leaves,  and  that  our  Sav- 
ior was  the  son  of  a  carpenter." 

In  the  Charleston- Baltimore  convention  of  i8bo,  ne 
.was  the  choice  of  the  Tennessee  Democrats  for  the 
Presidency.  In  1861,  when  the  purpose  of  the  South- 
ern Democracy  became  apparent,  he  took  a  decided 
stand  in  favor  of  the  Union,  and  held  that  "  slavery 
must  be  held  subordinate  to  the  Union  at  whatever 
cost."  He  returned  to  Tennessee,  and  repeatedly 
imperiled  his  own  life  to  protect  the  Unionists  of 
Tennesee.  Tennessee  having  seceded  from  the 
Union,  President  Lincoln,  on  March  4th,  1862,  ap- 
pointed him  Military  Governor  of  the  State,  and  he 
established  the  most  stringent  military  rule.  His 
numerous  proclamations  attracted  wide  attention.  In 

1864,  he  was  elected  Vice-President  of  the    United 
States,  and  upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  April  15, 

1865,  became  President.     In  a  speech  two  days  later 
he  said,  "  The  American  people  must  be   taught,   if 
they  do  not  already  feel,  that  treason  is  a  crime  and 
must  be  punished ;  that   the     Government  will   not 
always  bear  with  its  enemies ;  that  it  is   strong  not 
only  to  protect,  but  to   punish.     *    *    The  people 
must  understand  that  it  (treason)  is  the   blackest  of 
crimes,  and  will  surely  be  punished."    Yet  his  whole 
administration,  the  history  of  which  is  so  well  known, 
was  in  utter  inconsistency  with,  and  the  most  violent 


opposition  to.  the  principles  laid  down  in  that  spec 
In  his  loose  policy  of  reconstruction  and  gem 
amnesty,  he  was  opposed  by  Congress ;  and  he  cl 
acterized  Congress  as  a  new  rebellion,  and  Jawlei 
defied  it,  in  everything  possible,  to  the  utmost, 
the  beginning  of  1868,  on  account  of  "high  crii 
and  misdemeanors,"  the  principal  of  which  was 
removal  of  Secretary  Stanton,  in  violation  of  the  T 
ure  of  Office  Act,  articles  of  impeachment  were  ] 
ferred  against  him,  and  the  trial  began  March 

It  was  very  tedious,  continuing  for  nearly  th 
months.  A  test  article  of  the  impeachment  was 
length  submitted  to  the  court  for  its  action.  It  • 
certain  that  as  the  court  voted  upon  that  article 
would  it  vote  upon  all.  Thirty-four  voices  pronoun 
the  President  guilty.  As  a  two-thirds  vote  was  r.e< 
sary  to  his  condemnation,  he  was  pronounced 
quitted,  notwithstanding  the  great  majority  aga 
him.  The  change  of  one  vote  from  the  not  gu 
side  would  have  sustained  the  impeachment. 

The  President,  for  the  remainder  of  his  term,  • 
but  little  regarded.  He  continued,  though  impoten 
his  conflict  with  Congress.  His  own  party  did 
think  it  expedient  to  renominate  him  for  the  Pr 
dency.  The  Nation  rallied,  with  enthusiasm  unj 
alleled  since  the  days  of  Washington,  around  the  n£ 
of  Gen.  Grant.  Andrew  Johnson  was  forgotl 
The  bullet  of  the  assassin  introduced  him  to 
President's  chair.  Notwithstanding  this,  never  ' 
there  presented  to  a  man  a  better  opportunity  to 
mortalize  his  name,  and  to  win  the  gratitude  o 
nation.  He  failed  utterly.  He  retired  to  his  he 
in  Greenville,  Tenn.,  taking  no  very  active  part 
politics  until  1875.  On  Jan.  26,  after  an  excit 
struggle,  he  was  chosen  by  the  Legislature  of  T 
nessee,  United  States  Senator  in  the  forty-fourth  C 
gress,  and  took  his  seat  in  that  body,  at  the  spei 
session  convened  by  President  Grant,  on  the  5th 
March.  On  the  27th  of  July,  1875,  the  ex-Presid 
made  a  visit  to  his  daughter's  home,  near  Ca 
Station,  Tenn.  When  he  started  on  his  journey,  he  i 
apparently  in  his  usual  vigorous  health,  but  on  rea 
ing  the  residence  of  his  child  the  following  day,  i 
stricken  with  paralysis,  rendering  him  unconscic 
He  rallied  occasionally,  but  finally  passed  away 
2  A.M.,  July  31,  aged  sixty-seven  years.  His  f 
eral  was  attended  at  Geenville,  on  the  3d  of  Augi 
with  every  demonstration  of  respect. 


TfeUbruy 

•f  the 


EIGHTEENTH  PRESIDENT. 


LYSSES  S.  GRANT,  the 
eighteenth  President  of  the 
United  States,  was  born  on 
the  29th  of  April,  1822,  of 
Christian  parents,  in  a  humble 
home,  at  Point  Pleasant,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ohio.  Shortly  after 
his  father  moved  to  George- 
town, Brown  Co.,  O.  In  this  re- 
mote frontier  hamlet,  Ulysses 
received  a  common-school  edu- 
~  cation.  At  the  age  of  seven- 
teen, in  the  year  1839,  he  entered 
the  Military  Academy  at  West 
Point.  Here  he  was  regarded  as  a 
solid,  sensible  young  man  of  fair  abilities,  and  of 
sturdy,  honest  character.  He  took  respectable  rank 
as  a  scholar.  In  June,  1843,  he  graduated,  about  the 
middle  in  his  class,  and  was  sent  as  lieutenant  of  in- 
fantry to  one  of  the  distant  military  posts  in  the  Mis- 
souri Territory.  Two  years  he  past  in  these  dreary 
solitudes,  watching  the  vagabond  and  exasperating 
Indians. 

The  war  with  Mexico  came.  Lieut.  Grant  was 
sent  with  his  regiment  to  Corpus  Christi.  His  first 
battle  was  at  Palo  Alto.  There  was  no  chance  here 
for  the  exhibition  of  either  skill  or  heroism,  nor  at 
Resaca  de  la  Palma,  his  second  battle.  At  the  battle 
of  Monterey,  his  third  engagement,  it  is  said  that 
he  performed  a  signal  service  of  daring  and  skillful 
horsemanship.  His  brigade  had  exhausted  its  am- 
munition. A  messenger  must  be  sent  for  more,  along 
a.  route  exposed  to  the  bullets  of  the  foe.  Lieut. 
Grant,  adopting  an  expedient  learned  of  the  Indians, 
grasped  the  mane  of  his  horse,  and  hanging  upon  one 
side  of  the  anir>vil  ran  the  gauntlet  in  entire  safety. 


From  Monterey  he  was  sent,  with  the  fourth  infantty, 
to  aid  Gen.  Scott,  at  the  siege  of  Vera  Cruz.  In 
preparation  for  the  march  to  the  city  of  Mexico,  he 
was  appointed  quartermaster  of  his  regiment.  At  the 
battle  of  Molino  del  Rey,  he  was  promoted  to  a 
first  lieutenancy,  and  was  brevetted  captain  at  Cha- 
pultepec. 

At  the  close  of  the  Mexican  War,  Capt.  Grant  re- 
turned with  his  regiment  to  New  York,  and  was  again 
sent  to  one  of  the  military  posts  on  the  frontier.  The 
discovery  of  gold  in  California  causing  an  immense 
tide  of  emigration  to  flow  to  the  Pacific  shores,  Capt. 
Grant  was  sent  with  a  battalion  to  Fort  Dallas,  in 
Oregon,  for  the  protection  of  the  interests  of  the  im- 
migrants. Life  was  wearisome  in  those  wilds.  Capt. 
Grant  resigned  his  commission  and  returned  to  the 
States;  and  having  married,  entered  upon  the  cultiva- 
tion of  a  small  farm  near  St.  Louis,  Mo.  He  had  but 
little  skill  as  a  farmer.  Finding  his  toil  not  re- 
munerative, he  turned  to  mercantile  life,  entering  into 
the  leather  business,  with  a  younger  brother,  at  Ga- 
lena, 111.  This  was  in  the  year  1860.  As  the  tidings 
of  the  rebels  firing  on  Fort  Sumpter  reached  the  ears 
of  Capt.  Grant  in  his  counting-room,  he  said, — 
"Uncle  Sam  has  educated  me  for  the  army:  though 
I  have  served  him  through  one  war,  I  do  not  feel  that 
I  have  yet  repaid  the  debt.  I  am  still  ready  to  discharge 
my  obligations.  I  shall  therefore  buckle  on  my  tword 
and  see  Uncle  Sam  through  this  war  too." 

He  went  into  the  streets,  raised  a  cempany  of  vol- 
unteers, and  led  them  as  their  captain  to  Springfield, 
the  capital  of  the  State,  where  their  services  were 
offered  to  Gov.  Yates.  The  Governor,  impressed  by 
the  zeal  and  straightforward  executive  ability  of  Capt. 
Grant,  gave  him  a  desk  in  his  office,  to  assist  in  the, 
volunteer  organization  that  was  being  formed  in  the 
State  in  behalf  of  the  Government.  On  the  15'^  ol 


ULYSSES  S.  GRANT. 


June,  1 86 1,  Capt.  Grant  received  a  commission  as 
Colonel  of  the  Twenty-first  Regiment  of  Illinois  Vol- 
unteers. His  merits  as  a  West  Point  graduate,  who 
had  served  for  15  years  in  the  regular  army,  were  such 
that  he  was  soon  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Brigadier- 
'General  and  was  placed  in  command  at  Cairo.  The 
rebels  raised  their  banner  at  Paducah,  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Tennessee  River.  Scarcely  had  its  folds  ap- 
peared in  the  breeze  ere  Gen.  Grant  was  there.  The 
rebels  fled.  Their  banner  fell,  and  the  star  and 
stripes  were  unfurled  in  its  stead. 

He  entered  the  service  with  great  determination 
and  immediately  began  active  duty.  This  was  the  be- 
ginning, and  until  the  surrender  of  Lee  at  Richmond 
he  was  ever  pushing  the  enemy  with  great  vigor  and 
effectiveness.  At  Belmont,  a  few  days  later,  he  sur- 
prised and  routed  the  rebels,  then  at  Fort  Henry 
won  another  victory.  Then  came  the  brilliant  fight 
at  Fort  Donelson.  The  nation  was  electrified  by  the 
victory,  and  the  brave  leader  of  the  boys  in  blue  was 
immediately  made  a  Major-General,  and  the  military 
District  of  Tennessee  was  assigned  to  him. 

Like  all  great  captains,  Gen.  Grant  knew  well  how 
to  secure  the  results  of  victory.  He  immediately 
pushed  on  to  the  enemies'  lines.  Then  came  the 
terrible  battles  of  Pittsburg  Landing,  Corinth,  and  the 
siege  of  Vicksburg,  where  Gen.  Pemberton  made  an 
unconditional  surrender  of  the  city  with  over  thirty 
thousand  men  and  one-hundred  and  seventy-two  can- 
non. The  fall  of  Vicksburg  was  by  far  the  most 
severe  blow  which  the  rebels  had  thus  far  encountered, 
and  opened  up  the  Mississippi  from  Cairo  to  the  Gulf. 

Gen.  Grant  was  next  ordered  to  co-operate  with 
Gen.  Banks  in  a  movement  upon  Texas,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  New  Orleans,  where  he  was  thrown  from 
his  horse,  and  received  severe  injuries,  from  which  he 
was  laid  up  for  months.  He  then  rushed  to  the  aid 
jf  Gens.  Rosecrans  and  Thomas  at  Chattanooga,  and 
by  a  wonderful  series  of  strategic  and  technical  meas- 
ures put  the  Union  Army  in  fighting  condition.  Then 
followed  the  bloody  battles  at  Chattanooga,  Lookout 
Mountain  and  Missionary  Ridge,  in  which  the  rebels 
were  routed  with  great  loss.  This  won  for  him  un- 
bounded praise  in  the  North.  On  the  4th  of  Febru- 
ary, 1864,  Congress  revived  the  grade  of  lieutenant- 
general,  and  the  rank  was  conferred  on  Gen.  Grant. 
He  repaired  to  Washington  to  receive  his  credentials 
and  enter  upon  th«  duties  of  his  new  office 


Gen.  Grant  decided  as  soon  as  he  took  charge 
the  army  to  concentrate  the  widely-dispersed  Nation 
troops  for  an  attack  upon  Richmond,  the  nomin 
capital  of  the  Rebellion,  and  endeavor  there  to  d 
stroy  the  rebel  armies  which  would  be  promptly  £ 
sembled  from  all  quarters  for  its  defence.  The  whc 
continent  seemed  to  tremble  under  the  tramp  of  the 
majestic  armies,  rushing  to  the  decisive  battle  fiel 
Steamers  were  crowded  with  troops.  Railway  trai 
were  burdened  vith  closely  packed  thousands.  I: 
plans  were  comprehensive  and  involved  a  series 
campaigns,  which  were  executed  with  remarkable  e 
ergy  and  ability,  and  were  consummated  at  the  si 
render  of  Lee,  April  9,  1865. 

The  war  was  ended.  The  Union  was  saved.  T 
almost  unanimous  voice  of  the  Nation  declared  Ge 
Grant  to  be  the  most  prominent  instrument  in  its  si 
vation.  The  eminent  services  he  had  thus  render 
the  country  brought  him  conspicuously  forward  as  t 
Republican  candidate  for  the  Presidential  chair. 

At  the  Republican  Convention  held  at  Chicaj, 
May  21,  1868,  he  was  unanimously  nominated  for  t! 
Presidency,  and  at  the  autumn  election  received 
majority  of  the  popular  vote,  and  214  out  of  2. 
electoral  votes. 

The  National  Convention  of  the  Republican  par 
which  met  at  Philadelphia  on  the  5th  of  June,  187 
placed  Gen.  Grant  in  nomination  for  a  second  ter 
by  a  unanimous  vote.  The  selection  was  empha 
cally  indorsed  by  the  people  five  months  later,  21 
electoral  votes  being  cast  for  him. 

Soon  after  the  close  of  his  second  term,  Gen.  Gra 
started  upon  his  famous  trip  around  the  world.  P 
visited  almost  every  country  of  the  civilized  worl 
and  was  everywhere  received  with  such  ovatioi 
and  demonstrations  of  respect  and  honor,  priva 
as  well  as  public  and  official,  as  were  never  befo 
bestowed  upon  any  citizen  of  the  United  States. 

He  was  the  most  prominent  candidate  before  tt 
Republican  National  Convention  in  1880  for  a  n 
nomination  for  President.  He  went  to  New  York  an 
embarked  in  the  brokerage  business  under  the  fin 
nameof  Grant  &  Ward.  The  latter  proved  a  villair 
wrecked  Grant's  fortune,  and  for  larceny  was  sent  t 
the  penitentiary.  The  General  was  attacked  wit 
cancer  in  the  throat,  but  suffered  in  his  stoic-lik 
manner,  never  complaining.  He  was  re-instated  a 
General  of  the  Army  and  retired  by  Congress.  Th 
cancer  soon  finished  its  deadly  work,  and  July  2 
1885,  the  nation  went  in  mourning  over  the  death  c 
the  illustrious  General. 


ffc«  Llbfir, 
•I  the 
of 


NINETEENTH  PRESIDENT. 


UTHERFORD  B.  HAYES, 
the  nineteenth  President  of 
the  United  States,  was  born  in 
Delaware,  O.,  Oct.  4,  1822, al- 
most three  months  after  the 
death  of  his  father,  Rutherford 
Hayes.  His  ancestry  on  both 
the  paternal  and  maternal  sides, 
was  of  the  most  honorable  char- 
acter. It  can  be  traced,  it  is  said, 
as  far  back  as  1280,  when  Hayes  and 
Rutherford  were  two  Scottish  chief- 
tains, fighting  side  by  side  with 
Baliol,  William  Wallace  and  Robert 
Bruce.  Both  families  belonged  to  the 
nobility,  owned  extensive  estates, 
1  and  had  a  large  following.  Misfor- 
rane  ovwtaking  the  family,  George  Hayes  left  Scot- 
land in  1680,  and  settled  in  Windsor,  Conn.  His  son 
George  way  born  in  Windsor,  and  remained  there 
during  his  life.  Daniel  Hayes,  son  of  the  latter,  mar- 
ried Sarah  Lee,  and  lived  from  the  time  of  his  mar- 
riage until  his  death  in  Simsbury,  Conn.  Ezekiel, 
son  of  Daniel,  was  born  in  1724,  and  was  a  manufac- 
turer of  scythes  at  Bradford,  Conn.  Rutherford  Hayes, 
son  of  Ezekiel  and  grandfather  of  President  Hayes,  was 
born  inNew Haven,  in  August,  1756.  He  was  a  farmer, 
blacksmith  and  tavern-keeper.  He  emigrated  to 
Vermont  at  an  unknown  date,  settling  in  Brattleboro, 
where  he  established  a  hotel.  Here  his  son  Ruth- 
erford Hayes  the  father  of  President  Hayes,  was 


born.  He  was  married,  in  September,  1813,  to  Sophia 
Birchard,  of  Wilmington,  Vt,  whose  ancestors  emi- 
grated thither  from  Connecticut,  they  having  been 
among  the  wealthiest  and  best  famlies  of  Norwich. 
Her  ancestry  on  the  male  side  are  traced  back  to 
1635,  to  John  Birchard,  one  of  the  principal  founders 
of  Norwich.  Both  of  her  grandfathers  were  soldiers 
in  the  Revolutionary  War. 

The  father  of  President  Hayes  was  an  industrious 
frugal  and  opened-hearted  man.  He  was  of  a  me- 
chanical turn,  and  could  mend  a  plow,  knit  a  stock^ 
ing,  or  do  almost  anything  else  that  he  choose  to 
undertake.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Church,  active 
in  all  the  benevolent  enterprises  of  the  town,  and  con- 
ducted his  business  on  Christian  principles.  After 
the  close  of  the  war  of  1812,  for  reasons  inexplicable 
to  his  neighbors,  he  resolved  to  emigrate  to  Ohio. 

The  journey  from  Vermont  to  Ohio  in  that  day 
when  there  were  no  canals,  steamers,  noi-  railways, 
was  a  very  serious  affair.  A  tour  of  inspection  was 
first  made,  occupying  four  months.  Mr,  Hayes  deter 
mined  to  move  to  Delaware,  where  the  family  arrived 
in  1817.  He  died  July  22,  1822,  a  victim  of  malarial 
fever,  less  than  three  months  before  the  birth  of  the 
son,  of  whom  we  now  write.  Mrs.  Hayes,  in  her  sore  be- 
reavement, found  the  support  she  so  much  needed  in 
her  brother  Sardis,  who  had  been  a  member  of  the 
household  from  the  day  of  its  departure  from  Ver- 
mont, and  in  an  orphan  girl  whom  she  had  adopted 
some  time  before  as  an  act  of  charity. 

Mrs.  Hayes  at  this  period  was  very  weak,  and  the 


RUTHERFORD  B.  HAYES. 


subject  of  this  sketch  was  so  feeble  at  birth  that  he 
was  not  expected  to  live  beyond  a  month  or  two  at 
most.  As  the  months  went  by  he  grew  weaker  and 
weaker,  so  that  the  neighbors  were  in  the  habit  of  in- 
quiring from  time  to  time  "  if  Mrs.  Hayes'  baby  died 
last  night."  On  one  occasion  a  neighbor,  who  was  on 
fiiniliar  terms  with  the  family,  after*  alluding  to  the 
boy's  big  head,  and  the  mother's  assiduous  care  of 
him,  said  in  a  bantering  way,  "  That's  right !  Stick  to 
him.  You  have  got  him  along  so  far,  and  I  shouldn't 
wonder  if  he  would  really  come  to  something  yet." 

"  You  need  not  laugh,"  said  Mrs.  Hayes.  "  You 
•vait  and  see.  You  can't  tell  but  I  shall  make  him 
President  of  the  United  States  yet."  The  boy  lived, 
in  spite  of  the  universal  predictions  of  his  speedy 
death;  and  when,  in  1825,  his  older  brother  was 
drowned,  he  became,  if  possible,  still  dearer  to  his 
mother. 

The  boy  was  seven  years  old  before  lie  w<;nt  to 
school.  His  education,  however,  was  not  neglected. 
He  probably  learned  as  much  from  his  mother  and 
;  ister  as  he  would  have  done  at  school.  His  sports 
were  almost  wholly  within  doors,  his  playmates  being 
Ins  sister  and  her  associates.  These  circumstances 
tended,  no  doubt,  to  foster  that  gentleness  of  dispo- 
sition, and  that  delicate  consideration  for  the  feelings 
of  others,  which  are  marked  traits  of  his"  character. 

His  uncle  Sardis  Birchard  took  the  deepest  interest 
k'n  his  education ;  and  as  the  boy's  health  had  im- 
proved, and  he  was  making  good  progress  in  his 
studies,  he  proposed  to  send  him  to  college.  His  pre- 
paration commenced  with  a  tutor  at  home;  but  he 
was  afterwards  sent  for  one  year  to  a  professor  in  the 
Wesleyan  University,  in  Middletown,  Conn.  He  en- 
tered Kenyon  College  in  1838,  at  the  age  of  sixteen, 
and  was  graduated  at  the  head  of  his  class  in  1842. 

Immediately  after  his  graduation  he  began  the 
study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Thomas  Sparrow,  Esq., 
in  Columbus.  Finding  his  opportunities  for  study  in 
Columbus  somewhat  limited,  he  determined  to  enter 
the  Law  School  at  Cambridge,  Mass.,  where  he  re- 
mained two  years. 

In  1845,  after  graduating  at  the  Law  School,  he  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  at  Marietta,  Ohio,  and  shortly 
afterward  went  into  practice  as  an  attorney-at-law 
with  Ralph  P.  Buckland,  of  Fremont.  Here  he  re- 
mained three  years,  acquiring  but  a  limited  practice, 
and  apparently  unambitious  of  distinction  in  his  pro- 
Cession. 

\n  1 849  he  moved  to  Cincinnati,  where  his  ambi- 
tion found  a  new  stimulus.  For  several  years,  how- 
ever, his  progress  was  slow.  Two  events,  occurring  at 
this  period,  had  a  powerful  influence  upon  his  subse- 
quent "ife.  One  of  these  was  his  marrage  with  Miss 
Lucy  Ware  Webb,  daughter  of  Dr.  James  Webb,  of 
Chilicothe;  the  othev  was  his  introduction  to  the  Cin- 
cinnati Literary  Club,  a  body  embracing  among  its 
members  such  men  as^hief  Justice  Salmon  P|£hasev 


Gen.  John  Pope,  Gov.  Edward  F.  NoyeS,  and  ma 
others  hardly  less  distinguished  in  after  life.  T 
marriage  was  a  fortunate  one  in  every  respect, 
everybody  knows.  Not  one  of  all  the  wives  of  o 
Presidents  was  more  universally  admired,  reverenc 
and  beloved  than  was  Mrs.  Hayes,  and  no  one  c 
more  than  she  to  reflect  honor  upon  American  woma 
hood.  The  Literary  Cluu  brought  Mr.  Hayes  ir 
constant  association  with  young  men  of  high  ch; 
acter  and  noble  aims,  and  lured  him  to  display  t. 
qualities  so  long  hidden  by  his  bashfulne^s  a 
modesty. 

In  1856  he  was  nominated  to  the  office  of  Judgj 
the  Court  of  Common  Pleas;  but  he  declined  to  s 
cept  the  nomination.  Two  years  later,  the  office 
city  solicitor  becoming  vacant,  the  City  Coin 
elected  him  for  the  unexpired  teim. 

In  1861,  when  the  Rebellion  broke  out,  he  was 
the  zenith  of  his  professional  lif ..     His  rank   at  t 
bar  was  among  the  the  first.     But  the   news   of  t 
attack  on  Fort  Sumpter  found  him  eager  to    take 
arms  for  the  defense  of  his  country. 

His  military  record  was  bright  and  illustrious. 
October,  1861,  he  was  made  Lieutenant-Colonel,  ai 
in  August,  1862,  promoted  Colonel  of  the  7gth  Ol 
regiment,  but  he  refused  to  leave  his  old  comrad 
and  go  among  strangers.  Subsequently,  however, 
was  made  Colonel  of  his  old  regiment.  At  the  bat! 
of  South  Mountain  he  received  a  wound,  and  wh 
faint  and  bleeding  displayed  courage  and  fortitU' 
that  won  admiration  from  all. 

Col.  Hayes  was  detached  from  his  regiment,  aft 
his  recovery,  to  act  as  Brigadier-General,  and  plao 
in  command  of  the  celebrated  Kanawha  divisic 
and  for  gallant  and  meritorious  services  in  the  battl 
of  Winchester,  Fisher's  Hill  and  Cedar  Creek,  he  w 
promoted  Brigadier-General.  He  was  also  brevetti 
Major-General,  "for gallant  and  distinguished  f ervic 
during  the  campaigns  of  1864,  in  West  Virginia." 
the  course  of  his  arduous  services,  four  horses  we 
shot  from  under  him,  and  he  was  wounded  four  tim< 

In  1864,  Gen.  Hayes  was  elected  to  Congress,  fro 
the  Second  Ohio  District,  which  had  long  been  Dei 
ocratic.  He  was  not  present  during  the  campaig 
and  after  his  election  Was  importuned  to  resign  1 
commission  in  the  army ;  but  he  finally  declared,  ' 
shall  never  come  to  Washington  until  I  can  come  1 
the  way  of  Richmond."  He  was  re-elected  in  1866. 

In  1867,  Gen  Hayes  was  elected  Governor  of  Ohi 
over  Hon.  Allen  G.  Thurman,  a  popular  Democn 
In  1869  was  re-elected  over  George  H.  Pendleto 
He  was  elected  Governor  for  the  third  term  in  187 

In  1876  he  was  the  standard  bearer  of  the  Repu 
lican  Party  in  the  Presidential  contest,  and  after 
hard  long  contest  was  chosen  President,  and  was 
augurated  Monday,  March  5,  1875.  He  served  h 
full  term,  not,  hcwever,  with  satisfaction  to  his  part 
but  his  administration  was  an  average  orv° 


TfcUbrwy 


TWENTIETH  PRESIDENT. 


AMES  A.  GARFIELD,  twen- 
tieth President  of  the  United 
States,    was    born   Nov.    19, 
1831,  in  the  woods  of  Orange, 
Cuyahoga  Co.,  O      His   par- 
ents were  Abram  and   Eliza 
(Ballou)   Garfield,   both  of  New 
England  ancestry  and  from  fami- 
lies well  known  in  the  early  his- 
tory of  that  section  of  our  coun- 
try, but  had  moved  to  the  Western 
Reserve,  in  Ohio,  early  in  its  settle- 
ment. 

The  house  in  which  James  A.  was 
born  was  not  unlike  the  houses  of 
poor  Ohio  farmers  of  that  day.  It 
,ifls  about  20x30  feet,  built  of  logs,  with  the  spaces  be- 
vween  the  logs  filled  with  clay.  His  father  was  a 
nard  working  farmer,  and  he  soon  had  his  fields 
cleared,  an  orchard  planted,  and  a  log  barn  built. 
The  household  comprised  the  father  and  mother  and 
;heir  four  children — Mehetabel,  Thomas,  Mary  and 
Tames.  In  May,  1823^  the  father,  from  a  cold  con- 
-racted  in  helping  to  put  out  a  forest  fire,  died.  At 
chis  time  James  was  about  eighteen  months  old,  and 
Thomas  about  ten  years  old.  No  one,  perhaps,  can 
fell  how  much  James  was  indebted  to  his  biother's 
toil  and  self-sacrifice  during  the  twenty  years  suc- 
ceeding his  father's  death,  but  undoubtedly  very 
much.  He  now  lives  in  Michigan,  and  the  two  sis- 
ters live  in  Solon,  O.,  near  their  birthplace. 

The  early  educational  advantages  young  Garfield 
enjoyed  were  very  limited,  yet  he  made  the  most  of 
them.  He  labored  at  farm  work  for  others,  did  car- 
penter work,  chopped  wood,  or  did  anything  that 
would  bring  in  a  few  dollars  to  aid  his  widowed 
mother  in  he'  =tmggles  to  keep  the  little  family  to- 


gether. Nor  was  Gen.  Garfield  ever  ashamed  of  bis 
origin,  and  he  never  forgot  the  friends  of  his  strug- 
gling childhood,  youth  and  manhood,  neither  did  they 
ever  forget  him.  When  in  the  highest  seats  of  honor 
the  humblest  friend  of  his  boyhood  was  as  kindly 
greeted  as  ever.  The  poorest  laborer  was  sure  of  the 
sympathy  of  one  who  had  known  all  the  bitterness 
of  want  and  the  sweetness  of  bread  earned  by  the 
sweat  of  the  brow.  He  was  ever  the  simple,  plain, 
modest  gentleman. 

The  highest  ambition  of  young  Garfield  until  hi 
was  about  sixteen  years  old  was  to  be  a  captain  of 
a  vessel  on  Lake  Erie.  He  was  anxious  to  go  aboard 
a  vessel,  which  his  mother  strongly  opposed.  She 
finally  consented  to  his  going  to  Cleveland,  with  the  • 
understanding,  however,  that  he  should  try  to  obtairi 
some  other  kind  of  employment.  He  walked  all  the 
way  to  Cleveland.  This  was  his  first  visit  to  the  city 
After  making  many  applications  for  work,  and  trying 
to  get  aboard  a  lake  vessel,  and  not  meeting  with 
success,  he  engaged  as  a  driver  for  his  cousin,  Amos 
Letcher,  on  the  Ohio  &  Pennsylvania  Canal.  He  re- 
mained at  this  work  but  a  short  time  when  he  wen^ 
home,  and  attended  the  seminary  at  Chester  for 
about  three  years,  when  he  entered  Hiram  and  the 
Eclectic  Institute,  teaching  a  few  terms  of  school  in 
the  meantime,  and  doing  other  work.  This  school 
was  started  by  the  Disciples  of  Christ  in  1850,  of 
which  church  he  was  then  a  member.  He  became 
janitor  and  bell-ringer  in  order  to  help  pay  his  way 
He  then  became  both  teacher  and  pupil.  He  soon 
"  exhausted  Hiram  "  and  needed  more  ;  hence,  in  the 
fall  of  1854,  he  entered  Williams  College,  from  which 
he  graduated  in  1856,  taking  one  of  the  highest  ho..- 
ors  of  his  class.  He  afterwards  returned  to  Hiram 
College  as  its  President.  As  above  stated,  he  early 
united  with  the  Christian  or  Diciples  Church  at 
Hiram,  and  was  ever  after  a  devoted,  zealous  mem- 
ber, often  preaching  in  its  pulpit  and  places  where" 
he  happened  to  be.  Dr.  Noah  Porter,  President  of 
Yale  College,  says  of  him  in  reference  to  his  religion : 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD. 


"  President  Garfield  was  more  than  a  man  of 
strong  moral  and  religious  convictions.  His  whole 
history,  from  boyhood  to  the  last,  shows  that  duty  to 
man  and  to  God,  and  devotion  to  Christ  and  life  and 
faith  and  spiritual  commission  were  controlling  springs 
of  his  being,  and  to  a  more  than  usual  degree.  In 
my  judgmenc  there  is  no  more  interesting  feature  of 
his  character  than  his  loyal  allegiance  to  the  body  of 
Christians  in  which  he  was  trained,  and  the  fervent 
sympathy  which  he  ever  showed  in  their  Christian 
communion.  Not  many  of  the  few  'wise  and  mighty 
and  noble  who  are  called'  show  a  similar  loyalty  to 
the  less  stately  and  cultured  Christian  communions 
in  which  they  have  been  reared.  Too  often  it  is  true 
that  as  they  step  upward  in  social  and  political  sig- 
nificance they  step  upward  from  one  degree  to 
another  in  some  of  the  many  types  of  fashionable 
Christianity.  President  Garfield  adhered  to  the 
-hurch  of  his  mother,  the  church  in  which  he  was 
trained,  and  in  which  he  served  as  a  pillar  and  an 
evangelist,  and  yet  with  the  largest  and  most  unsec- 
'arian  charity  for  all  'who  loveour  Lord  in  sincerity.'" 

Mr.  Garfield  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Lucretia  Rudolph,  Nov.  1 1,  1858,  who  proved  herself 
worthy  as  the  wife  of  one  whom  all  the  world  loved  and 
mourned.  To  them  were  born  seven  children,  five  of 
whom  are  still  living,  four  boys  and  one  girl. 

Mr.  Garfield  made  his  first  political  speeches  in  1856, 
in  Hiram  and  the  neighboring  villages,  and  three 
years  later  he  began  to  speak  at  county  mass-meet- 
ings, and  became  the  favorite  speaker  wherever  he 
was.  During  this  year  he  was  elected  to  the  Ohio 
Senate.  He  also  began  to  study  law  at  Cleveland, 
and  in  1861  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  The  great 
Rebellion  broke  out  in  the  early  part  of  this  year, 
and  Mr.  Garfield  at  once  resolved  to  fight  as  he  had 
talked,  and  enlisted  to  defend  the  old  flag.  He  re- 
ceived his  commission  as  Lieut.-Colonel  of  the  Forty- 
second  Regiment  of  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  Aug. 
14,1861.  He  was  immediately  put  into  active  ser- 
vice, and  before  he  had  ever  seen  a  gun  fired  in  action, 
was  placed  in  command  of  four  regiments  of  infantry 
and  eight  companies  of  cavalry,  charged  with  the 
work  of  driving  out  of  his  native  State  the  officer 
'Humphrey  Marshall)  reputed  to  be  the  ablest  of 
those,  not  educated  to  war  whom  Kentucky  had  given 
to  the  Rebellion.  This  work  was  bravely  and  speed- 
ily accomplished,  although  against  great  odds.  Pres- 
ident Lincoln,  on  his  success  commissioned  him 
Brigadier-General,  Jan.  10,  1862;  and  as  "he  had 
been  the  youngest  man  in  the  Ohio  Senate  two  years 
before,  so  now  he  was  the  youngest  General  in  the 
army."  He  was  with  Gen.  Buell's  army  at  Shiloh, 
in  its  operations  around  Corinth  and  its  march  through 
Alabama.  He  was  then  detailed  as  a  member  of  the 
General  Court-Martial  for  the  trial  of  Gen.  Fitz-John 
Porter.  He  was  then  ordered  to  report  to  Gen.  Rose- 
crans,  and  was  assigned  to  the  "Chief  of  Staff." 

The  military  frstory  of  Gen.  Garfield  closed  with 


his  brilliant  services  at  Chickamauga,  where  he  w< 
the  stars  of  the  Major-General. 

Without  an  effort  on  his  part  Ge?  Garfield  w, 
elected  to  Congress  in  the  fall  of  1862  from  tl 
Nineteenth  District  of  Ohio.  This  section  of  Oh 
had  been  represented  in  Congress  for  sixty  yea 
mainly  by  two  men — Elisha  Whittlesey  and  Joshi 
R.  Giddings.  It  was  not  without  a  struggle  that  1 
resigned  his  place  in  the  army.  At  the  time  hee 
tered  Congress  he  was  the  youngest  member  in  th 
body.  There  he  remained  by  successive  r< 
elections  until  he  was  elected  President  in  188 
Of  his  labors  in  Congress  Senator  Hoar  says  :  "Sim 
the  year  1864  you  cannot  think  of  a  question  whic 
has  been  debated  in  Congress,  or  discussed  before 
tribunel  of  the  American  people,  in  regard  to  whi( 
you  will  not  find,  if  you  wish  instruction,  the  arg1 
ment  on  one  side  stated,  in  almost  every  instani 
better  than  by  anybody  else,  in  some  speech  made 
the  House  of  Representatives  or  on  the  hustings  1 
Mr.  Garfield." 

Upon  Jan.  14,  1880,  Gen.  Garfield  was  elected 
the  U.  S.  Senate,  and  on  the  eighth  of  June,  of  tl 
same  year,  was  nominated  as  the  candidate  of  h 
party  for  President  at  the  great  Chicago  Conventio 
He  was  elected  in  the  following  November,  and  c 
March  4,  1881,  was  inaugurated.  Probably  no  ai 
ministration  ever  opened  its  existence  under  bright 
auspices  than  that  of  President  Garfield,  and  eve 
day  it  grew  in  favor  with  the  people,  and  by  the  fir 
of  July  he  had  completed  all  the  initiatory  and  pr 
liminary  work  of  his  administration  and  was  prepa 
ing  to  leave  the  city  to  meet  his  friends  at  Willian 
College.  While  on  his  way  and  at  the  depot,  in  con 
pany  with  Secretary  Elaine,  a  man  stepped  behir 
him,  drew  a  revolver,  and  fired  directly  at  his  bac 
The  President  tottered  and  fell,  and  as  he  did  so  tl 
assassin  fired  a  second  shot,  the  bullet  cutting  tl 
left  coat  sleeve  of  his  victim,  but  inflicting  nofurth< 
injury.  It  has  been  very  truthfully  said  that  this  w; 
"  the  shot  that  was  heard  round  the  world  "  Nevi 
before  in  the  history  of  the  Nation  had  anything  01 
curred  which  so  nearly  froze  the  blood  of  the  peop, 
for  the  moment,  as  this  awful  deed.  He  was  smi 
ten  on  the  brightest,  gladdest  day  of  all  his  life,  an 
was  at  the  summit  of  his  power  and  hope.  Foreighi 
days,  all  during  the  hot  months  of  July  and  Augus 
he  lingered  and  suffered.  He,  however,  remaine 
master  of  himself  till  the  last,  and  by  his  magnified 
bearing  was  teaching  the  country  and  the  world  tl 
noblest  of  human  lessons — how  to  live  grandly  in  tl 
very  clutch  of  death.  Great  in  life,  he  was  surpas 
ingly  great  in  death.  He  passed  serenely  away  Sep 
19,  1883,  at  Elberon,  N.  J.,on  the  very  bank  of  tl 
ocean,  where  he  had  been  taken  shortly  previous.  Tl 
world  wept  at  his  death,  as  it  never  had  done  on  tl 
death  of  any  other  man  who  had  ever  lived  upon  i 
The  murderer  was  duly  tried,  found  guilty  and  exi 
cuted,  in  one  year  after  he  committed  the  foul  dee< 


Th«  Library 

of  the 
Untonfty  of  Ill 


TWENTY-FIRST  PRESIDENT. 


HESTER      A.      ARTHUR, 
twenty-first    Presi'i-iu  of  the 
United   States,    was    bom    in 
Franklin  Courty,  Vermont,  on 
thefifthofOdober.iSao,  and  is 
the  oldest   of  a   family    of  two 
*    sons  and   five   daughters.     His 
father  was  the  Rev.  Dr.  William 
Arthur,  aBaptistd'-rgyman,who 
emigrated  to  tb.s  country  from 
the  county  Ant.im,   Ireland,   in 
his  1 8th  year,  and  died  in  1875,  in 
Newtonville,   neai    Albany,  after  a 
long  and  successful  ministry. 

Young  Arthur  was  educated  at 
Union  College,  S<  henectady,  where 
he  excelled  in  all  his  studies.  Af- 
ter his  graduation  he  taught  school 
in  Vermont  for  two  years,  and  at 
the  expiration  of  that  time  came  to 
New  York,  with  $500  in  his  pocket, 
and  entered  the  office  of  ex-Judge 
E.  D.  Culver  as  student.  After 
I  being  admitted  to  the  bar  he  formed 
a  partnership  with  his  intimate  friend  and  room-mate, 
Henry  D.  Gardiner,  with  the  intention  of  practicing 
in  the  West,  and  for  three  months  they  roamed  about 
<"n  the  Western  States  in  search  of  an  eligible  site, 
Out  in  the  end  returned  to  New  York,  where  they 
hung  out  their  shingle,  and  entered  upon  a  success- 
ful  career  almost  from  the  start.  General  Arthur 
;^oon  afterward  nv»rr;<>d  the  daughter  of  Lieutenant 


Herndon,  of  the  United  States  Navy,  who  was  lost  at 
sea.  Congress  voted  a  gold  medal  to  his  widow  in 
recognition  of  the  bravery  he  displayed  on  that  occa- 
sion. Mrs.  Arthur  died  shortly  before  Mr.  Arthur's 
nomination  to  the  Vice  Presidency,  leaving  two 
children. 

Gen.  Arthur  obtained  considerable  legal  celebrity 
in  his  first  great  case,  the  famous  Lemmon  suit, 
brought  to  recover  possession  of  eight  slaves  who  had 
been  declared  free  by  Judge  Paine,  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  New  York  City.  It  was  in  1852  that  Jon, 
athan  Lemmon,  of  Virginia,  went  to  New  York  with 
his  slaves,  intending  to  ship  them  to  Texas,  when 
they  were  discovered  and  freed.  The  Judge  decided 
that  they  could  not  be  held  by  the  owner  under  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law.  A  howl  of  rage  went  up  from 
the  South,  and  the  Virginia  Legislature  authorized  the 
Attorney  General  of  that  State  to  assist  in  an  appeal. 
Wm.  M.  Evarts  and  Chester  A.  Arthur  were  employed 
to  represent  the  People,  and  they  won  their  case, 
which  then  went  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States.  Charles  O'Conor  here  espoused  the  cause 
of  the  slave-holders,  but  he  too  was  beaten  by  Messrs 
Evarts  and  Arthur,  and  a  long  step  was  taken  toward 
the  emancipation  of  the  black  race. 

Another  great  service  was  rendered  by  General 
Arthur  in  the  same  cause  in  1856.  Lizzie  Jennings, 
a  respectable  colored  woman,  was  put  off  a  Fourth 
Avenue  car  with  violence  after  she  had  paid  her  fare. 
General  Arthur  sued  on  her  behalf,  and  secured  a 
verdict  of  $500  damages.  The  next  day  the  compa- 
ny issued  an  order  to  admit  colored  persons  to  ride 
on  their  cars,  and  the  other  car  companies  quickly 


CHESTER  A.  ARTHUR. 


followed  their  example.  Before  that  the  Sixth  Ave- 
nue Company  ran  a  few  special  cars  for  colored  per- 
sons and  the  other  lines  refused  to  let  them  ride  at  all. 

General  Arthur  was  a  delegate  to  the  Convention 
at  Saratoga  that  founded  the  Republican  party. 
Previous  to  the  war  he  was  Judge-Advocate  of  the 
Second  Brigade  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  Gov- 
ernor Morgan,  of  that  State,  appointed  him  Engineer- 
in-Chief  of  his  staff.  In  1861,  he  was  made  Inspec- 
tor General,  and  soon  afterward  became  Quartermas- 
ter-General. In  each  of  these  offices  he  rendered 
great  service  to  the  Government  during  the  war.  At 
the  end  of  Governor  Morgan's  term  he  resumed  the 
practice  of  the  law,  forming  a  partnership  with  Mr. 
Ransom,  and  then  Mr.  Phelps,  the  District  Attorney 
of  New  York,  was  added  to  the  firm.  The  legal  prac- 
tice of  this  well-known  firm  was  very  large  and  lucra- 
tive, each  of  the  gentlemen  composing  it  were  able 
lawyers,  and  possessed  a  splendid  local  reputation,  if 
not  indeed  one  of  national  extent. 

He  always  took  a  leading  part  in  State  and  city 
politics.  He  was  appointed  Collector  of  the  Port  of 
New  York  by  President  Grant,  Nov.  21,  1872,  to  suc- 
ceed Thomas  Murphy,  and  held  the  office  until  July, 
20,  1878,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Collector  Merritt. 

Mr.  Arthur  was  nominated  on  the  Presidential 
ticket,  with  Gen.  James  A.  Garfield,  at  the  famous 
National  Republican  Convention  held  at  Chicago  in 
June,  1880.  This  was  perhaps  the  greatest  political 
convention  that  ever  assembled  on  the  continent.  It 
was  composed  of  the  fading  politicians  of  the  Re- 
publican party,  all  able  men,  and  each  stood  firm  and 
fought  vigorously  and  with  signal  tenacity  for  their 
respective  candidates  that  were  before  the  conven- 
tion for  the  nomination.  Finally  Gen.  Garfield  re- 
ceived the  nomination  for  President  and  Gen.  Arthur 
for  Vice-President.  The  campaign  which  followed 
was  one  of  the  most  animated  known  in  the  history  of 
our  country.  Gen.  Hancock,  the  standard-bearer  of 
the  Democratic  party,  was  a  popular  man,  and  his 
party  made  a  valiant  fight  for  his  election. 

Finally  the  election  came  and  the  country's  choice 
vvas  Garfield  and  Arthur.  They  were  inaugurated 
March  4,  1881,  as  President  and  Vice-President. 
&  few  months  only  had  passed  ere  the  newly  chosen 
President  was  the  victim  of  the  assassin's  bullet.  Then 
came  terrible  weeks  of  suffering, — those  moment*  of 
anxious  suspense,  wher  the  hearts  of  all  civilized  na- 


tions were  throbbing  in  unison,  longing  for  the  i 
covery  of  the  noble,  the  good  President.  The  remar 
able  patience  that  he  manifested  during  those  hou 
and  weeks,  and  even  months,  of  the  most  terrible  si 
fering  man  has  often  been  called  upon  to  endure,  w 
seemingly  more  than  human.  It  was  certainly  Go 
like.  During  all  this  period  of  deepest  anxiety  M 
Arthur's  every  move  was  watched,  and  be  it  said  to  t 
credit  that  his  every  action  displayed  only  an  earne 
desire  that  the  suffering  Garfield  might  recover, 
serve  the  remainder  of  the  term  he  had  so  ausj 
ciously  begun.  Not  a  selfish  feeling  was  manifest' 
in  deed  or  look  of  this  man,  even  though  the  me 
honored  position  in  the  world  was  at  any  mome 
likely  to  fall  to  him. 

At  last  God  in  his  mercy  relieved  President  Ga 
field  from  further  suffering,  and  the  world,  as  nev 
before  in  its  history  over  the  death  of  any  oth 
man,  wept  at  his  bier.  Then  it  became  the  duty 
the  Vice  President  to  assume  the  responsibilities 
the  high  office,  and  he  took  the  oath  in  New  Yor 
Sept.  20,  1881.  The  position  was  an  embarrassii 
one  to  him,  made  doubly  so  from  the  facts  that  i 
eyes  were  on  him,  anxious  to  know  what  he  would  d 
what  policy  he  would  pursue,  and  who  he  would  s 
lect  as  advisers.  The  duties  of  the  office  had  be< 
greatly  neglected  during  the  President's  long  illnes 
and  many  important  measures  were  to  be  immediate 
decided  by  him ;  and  still  farther  to  embarrass  him  1 
did  not  fail  to  realize  under  what  circumstances  \ 
became  President,  and  knew  the  feelings  of  many  r 
this  point.  Under  these  trying  circumstances  Preside] 
Arthur  took  the  reins  of  the  Government  in  has  o\v 
hands;  and,  as  embarrassing  as  were  the  condition  < 
affair.--  he  happily  surprised  the  nation,  acting  s 
wisel)  .hat  but  few  criticised  Ais  administratioi 
He  served  the  nation  well  and  faithfully,  until  tli 
close  of  his  administration,  March  4,  1885,  and  wa 
a  popular  candidate  before  his  party  for  a  secon 
term.  His  name  was  ably  presented  before  the  cor 
vention  at  Chicago,  and  was  received  with  grej 
favor,  and  doubtless  but  for  the  personal  popularit 
of  one  of  the  opposing  candidates,  he  would  hav 
been  selected  as  the  standard-bearer  of  his  part 
for  another  campaign.  He  retired  to  private  life  cai 
rying  with  him  the  best  wishes  of  the  American  pec 
pie,  whom  he  had  served  in  a  manner  satisfactor 
tr  them  and  with  credit  to  himself. 


lb«  Llbr.rj 
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&. 


TWENTY-SECOND  PRESIDENT. 


TEPHEN  GROVER  CLEVE- 
LAND.thetwenty-second  Pres- 
ident of  the  United  States,  was 
born  in  1837,  in  the  obscure 
town  of  Caldwell,  Essex  Co., 
N.  J.,  and  in  a  little  two-and-a- 
half-story  white  house  which  is  still 
standing,  characteristically  to  mark 
the  humble  birth-place  of  one  of 
America's  great  men  in  striking  con- 
trast with  the  Old  World,  where  all 
men  high  in  office  must  be  high  in 
origin  and  born  in  the  cradle  of 
wealth.  When  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  three  years  of  age,  his 
father,  who  was  a  Presbyterian  min- 
ister, with  a  large  family  and  a  small  salary,  moved, 
by  way  of  the  Hudson  River  and  Erie  Canal,  to 
Fayetteville,  in  search  of  an  increased  income  and  a 
larger  field  of  work.  Fayetteville  was  then  the  most 
straggling  of  country  villages,  about  five  miles  from 
Pompey  Hill,  where  Governor  Seymour  was  born. 

At  the  last  mentioned  place  young  Grover  com- 
menced going  to  school  in  the  "good,  old-fashioned 
way/'  and  presumably  distinguished  himself  after  the 
manner  of  all  village  boys,  in  doing  the  things  he 
ought  not  to  do.  Such  is  the  distinguishing  trait  of 
all  geniuses  and  independent  thinkers.  When  he 
arrived  at  the  age  of  14  years,  he  had  outgrown  the 
capacity  of  the  village  school  and  expressed  a  most 


emphatic  desire  to  be  sent  to  an  academy.  To  this 
his  father  decidedly  objected.  Academies  in  those 
days  cost  money;  besides,  his  father  wanted  him  to 
become  self-supporting  by  the  quickest  possible 
means,  and  this  at  that  time  in  Fayetteville  seemed 
to  be  a  position  in  a  country  store,  where  his  father 
and  the  large  family  on  his  hands  had  considerable 
influence.  Grover  was  to  be  paid  $50  for  his  services 
the  first  year,  and  if  he  proved  trustworthy  he  was  to 
receive  $100  the  second  year.  Here  the  lad  com- 
menced his  career  as  salesman,  and  in  two  years  he 
had  earned  so  good  a  reputation  for  trustworthiness 
that  his  employers  desired  to  retain  him  for  an  in- 
definite length  of  time.  Otherwise  he  did  not  ex- 
hibit as  yet  any  particular  "  flashes  of  genius  "  or 
eccentricities  of  talent.  He  was  simply  a  good  boy. 
But  instead  of  remaining  with  this  firm  in  Fayette- 
ville, he  went  with  the  family  in  their  removal  to 
Clinton,  where  he  had  an  opportunity  of  attending  a 
high  school.  Here  he  industriously  pursued  his 
studies  until  the  family  removed  with  him  to  a  point 
on  Black  River  known  as  the  "  Holland  Patent,"  a 
village  of  500  or  600  people,  15  miles  north  of  Utica, 
N.  Y.  At  this  place  his  father  died,  after  preaching 
but  three  Sundays.  This  event  broke  up  the  family, 
and  Grover  set  out  for  New  York  City  to  accept,  at  a 
small  salary,  the  position  of  "  under-teacher  "  in  an 
asylum  for  the  blind.  He  taught  faithfully  for  two 
years,  and  although  he  obtained  a  good  reputation  in 
this  capacity,  he  conduced  that  teaching  was  not  his 


S.   GROVE  R  CLEVELAND. 


calling  for  life,  and,  reversing  the  traditional  order, 
he  left  the  city  to  seek  his  fortune,  instead  of  going 
to  a  city.  He  first  thought  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  as 
there  was  some  charm  in  that  name  for  him ;  but 
before  proceeding  to  that  place  he  went  to  Buffalo  to 
*sk  the  advice  of  his  uncle,  Lewis  F.  Allan,  a  noted 
stock-breeder  of  that  place.  The  latter  did  not 
speak  enthusiastically.  "  What  is  it  you  want  to  do, 
my  boy?"  he  asked.  "Well,  sir,  I  want  to  study 
law,"  was  the  reply.  "Good  gracious!"  remarked 
ih«  old  gentleman ;  "  do  you,  indeed  ?  What  ever  put 
that  into  your  head?  How  much  money  have  you 
got?"  "Well,  sir,  to  tell  the  truth,  I  haven't  got 
any." 

After  a  long  consultation,  his  uncle  offered  him  a 
place  temporarily  as  assistant  herd-keeper,  at  $50  a 
year,  while  he  could  "look  around."  One  day  soon 
afterward  he  boldly  walked  into  the  office  of  Rogers, 
Bowen  &  Rogers,  of  Buffalo,  and  told  Ihem  what  he 
wanted.  A  number  of  young  men  were  already  en- 
gaged in  the  office,  but  Grover's  persistency  won,  and 
he  was  finally  permitted  to  come  as  an  office  boy  and 
fiave  the  use  of  the  law  library,  for  the  nominal  sum 
of  $3  or  $4  a  week.  Out  of  this  he  had  to  pay  for 
his  board  and  washing.  The  walk  to  and  from  his 
uncle's  was  a  long  and  rugged  one;  and,  although 
the  first  winter  was  a  memorably  severe  one,  his 
shoes  were  out  of  repair  and  his  overcoat — he  had 
none — yet  he  was  nevertheless  prompt  and  regular. 
On  the  first  day  of  his  service  here,  his  senior  em- 
ployer threw  down  a  copy  of  Blackstone  before  him 
with  a  bang  that  made  the  dust  fly,  saying  "That's 
where  they  all  begin."  A  titter  ran  around  the  little 
circle  of  clerks  and  students,  as  they  thought  that 
vras  enough  to  scare  young  Grover  out  of  his  plans ; 
Out  in  due  time  he  mastered  that  cumbersome  volume. 
Then,  as  ever  afterward,  however,  Mr.  Cleveland 
exhibited  a  talent  for  executiveness  rather  than  for 
chasing  principles  through  all  their  metaphysical 
possibilities.  "  Let  us  quit  talking  and  go  and  do 
it,"  was  practically  his  motto. 

The  first  public  office  to  which  Mr.  Cleveland  was 
eiected  was  that  of  Sheriff  of  Erie  Co.,  N.  Y.,  in 
which  Buffalo  is  situated;  and  in  such  capacity  it  fell 
to  his  duty  to  inflict  capital  pi>r.ishment  upon  two 
criminals.  In  1881  he  was  elected  Mayor  of  the 
City  of  Buffalo,  on  the  Democratic  ticket,  with  es- 
pecial reference  to  the  bringing  about  certain  reforms 


in  the  administration  of  the  municipal  affairs  of  that 
city.  In  this  office,  as  well  as  that  of  Sheriff,  his 
performance  of  duty  has  generally  been  considered 
fair,  with  possibly  a  few  exceptions  which  were  fer- 
reted out  and  magnified  during  the  last  Presidential 
campaign.  As  a  specimen  of  his  plain  language  in 
a  veto  message,  we  quote  from  one  vetoing  an  iniqui- 
tous street-cleaning  contract:  "This  is  a  time  foi 
plain  speech,  and  my  objection  to  your  action  shall 
be  plainly  stated.  I  regard  it  as  the  culmination  of 
a  mos'  bare-faced,  impudent  and  shameless  scheme 
to  betray  the  interests  of  the  people  and  to  worse 
than  squander  the  people's  money."  The  New  York 
Sun  afterward  very  highly  commended  Mr.  Cleve- 
land's administration  as  Mayor  of  Buffalo,  and  there- 
upon recommended  him  for  Governor  of  the  Empire 
State.  To  the  latter  office  he  was  elected  in  1882, 
and  his  administration  of  the  affairs  of  State  was 
generally  satisfactory.  The  mistakes  he  made,  if 
any,  were  made  very  public  throughout  the  nation 
after  he  was  nominated  for  President  of  the  United 
States.  For  this  high  office  he  was  nominated  July 
n,  1884,  by  the  National  Democratic  Convention  at 
Chicago,  when  other  competitors  were  Thomas  F. 
Bayard,  Roswell  P.  Flower,  Thomas  A.  Hendricks, 
Benjamin  F.  Butler,  Allen  G.  Thurman,  etc.;  and  he 
was  elected  by  the  people,  by  a  majority  of  about  a 
thousand,  over  the  brilliant  and  long-tried  Repub- 
lican statesman,  James  G.  Elaine.  President  Cleve- 
land resigned  his  office  as  Governor  of  New  York  in 
January,  1885,  in  order  to  prepare  for  his  duties  as 
the  Chief  Executive  of  ihe  United  States,  in  which 
capacity  his  term  commenced  at  noon  on  the  4th  of 
March,  1885. 

The  silver  question  precipitated  a  controversy 
between  those  who  were  in  favor  of  the  continu- 
ance of  silver  coinage  and  those  who  were  opposed, 
Mr.  Cleveland  answering  for  the  latter,  even  before 
his  inauguration. 

On  June  2,  1886,  President  Cleveland  married 
Frances,  daughter  of  his  deceased  friend  and 
partner,  Oscar  Folsom,  of  the  Buffalo  Bar.  Their 
union  has  been  blessed  by  the  birth  of  one  daugh- 
ter, Ruth.  In  the  campaign  of  1888,  President 
Cleveland  was  renominated  by  his  party,  but  the 
Republican  candidate,  Gen.  Benjamin  Harrison, 
was  victorious.  In  the  nominations  of  1892  these 
two  candidates  for  the  highest  position  in  the  gift 
of  the  people  were  again  pitted  against  each  other 
and  President  Cleveland  was  victorious  by  an 
overwhelming  majority. 


•f  the 

Of  Illi 


TWENTY-THIRD  PRESIDENT. 


•»•          'O+o-gfrW®  Mai          V* 


ENJAMIN  HARRISON,  the 

twenty-third  President,  is 
the  descendant  of  one  of  the 
historical  families  of  this 
country.  The  head  of  the 
family  was  a  Major  General 
Harrison,  one  of  Oliver 
Cromwell's  trusted  follow- 
ers and  fighters.  In  the  zenith  of  Crom- 
well's power  it  became  the  duty  of  this 
Harrison  to  participate  m  the  trial  of 
Charles  I,  and  afterward  tc  sign  the 
death  warrant  of  the  king.  He  subse- 
quently paid  for  this  with  his  life,  being 
hung  Oct.  13,  1660.  His  descendants 
came  to  America,  and  the  next  of  the 
family  that  appears  in  history  is  Benja- 
min Harrison,  of  Virginia,  great-grand- 
father of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  and 
after  whom  he  was  named.  Benjamin  Harrison 
was  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress  during 
the  years  1774-5-6,  and  was  one  of  the  original 
signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  He 
W»  three  times  elected  Governor  of  Virginia, 
^cn  William  Henry  Harrison,  the  »on  of  the 


distinguished  patriot  of  the  Revolution,  after  a  suo. 
cessful  career  as  a  soldier  during  the  War  of  1812, 
and  with -a  clean  record  as  Governor  of  the  North- 
western Territory,  was  elected  President  of  the 
United  States  in  1840.  His  saroer  was  cut  short 
by  death  within  one  month  after  liis  inauguration. 
President  Harrison  was  born  at  SToi*!i  Bend. 
Hamilton  Co.,  Ohio,  Aug.  20, 18S30  His  life  up  to 
the  time  of  his  graduation  by  the  Miami  University, 
at  Oxford,  Ohio,  was  the  uneventful  one  of  a  coun- 
try lad  of  a  family  of  small  means.  His  father  was 
able  to  give  him  a  good  education,  and  nothing 
more.  He  became  engaged  while  at  college  to  the 
daughter  of  Dr.  Scott,  Principal  of  a  female  schoo 
at  Oxford.  After  graduating  he  determined  to  en- 
ter  upon  the  study  of  the  law.  He  went  to  Cin 
cinnati  and  then  read  law  for  two  years.  At  the 
expiration  of  that  time  young  Harrison  received  tt:. 
only  inheritance  of  his  life ;  his  aunt  dying  left  him 
a  lot  valued  at  $800.  He  regarded  this  legacy  as  & 
fortune,  and  decided  to  get  married  at  once,  take 
this  money  and  go  to  some  Eastern  town  an '.  be- 
gin the  practice  of  law.  He  sold  his  lot,  and  with 
the  money  in  his  pocket,  he  started  out  witn  hia 
young  wife  to  fight  for  a  place  in  the  world  He 


108 


BENJAMIN  HARRISON 


decided  to  go  to  Indianapolis,  which  was  even  at 
that  time  a  town  of  promise.  He  met  with  sliglit 
encouragement  at  first,  making  scarcely  anything 
the  first  year.  He  worked  diligently,  applying  him- 
self closely  to  his  calling,  built  up  an  extensive 
practice  and  took  a  leading  rank  in  the  legal  pro- 
fession. He  is  the  father  of  two  children. 

In  1860  Mr.  Harrison  was  nominated  for  the 
position  of  Supreme  Court  Reporter,  and  then  be- 
gan his  experience  as  a  stump  speaker  He  can- 
vassed the  State  thoroughly,  and  was  elected  by  a 
handsome  majority.  In  1862  he  raised  the  17th 
Indiana  Infantry,  and  was  chosen  its  Colonel.  His 
regiment  was  composed  of  the  rawest  of  material, 
but  Col.  Harrison  employed  all  his  time  at  first 
mastering  military  tactics  and  drilling  his  men, 
when  he  therefore  came  to  move  toward  the  East 
with  Sherman  his  regiment  was  one  of  the  best 
drilled  and  organized  in  the  army.  At  Resaca  he 
especially  distinguished  himself,  and  for  his  bravery 
at  Peachtree  Creek  he  was  made  a  Brigadier  Gen- 
eral, Gen.  Hooker  speaking  of  him  in  the  most 
complimentary  terms. 

During  the  absence  of  Gen.  Harrison  in  the  field 
the  Supreme  Court  declared  the  office  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  Reporter  vacant,  and  another  person 
was  elected  to  the  position.  From  the  time  of  leav- 
ing Indiana  with  his  regiment  until  the  fall  or  1864 
he  had  taken  no  leave  of  absence,  but  having  been 
nominated  that  year  for  the  same  office,  he  got  a 
thirty-day  leave  of  absence,  and  during  that  time 
made  a  brilliant  canvass  of  the  State,  and  was  elected 
for  another  term.  He  then  started  to  rejoin  Sher- 
man, but  on  the  way  was  stricken  down  with  scarlet 
jever,  and  after  a  most  trying  siege  made  his  way 
to  the  front  in  time  to  participate  in  the  closing 
Incidents  of  the  war. 

In  1868  Gen.  Harrison  declined  r,  re-election  as 
reporter,  and  resumed  the  practice  of  law,,  In  1876 
be  was  a  candidate  for  Governor.  Although  de- 
feated, the  brilliant  campaign  he  made  won  i'or  him 
a  National  reputation,  and  he  was  much  sought,  es- 
pecial.y  in  the  East,  to  make  speeches.  In  1880, 
as  usual,  he  took  an  active  part  in  the  campaign, 
and  wai  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate.  Here 
ic  served  six  years,  and  \jas  known  as  one  ox  the 
Ablest  men,  bebt  lawyer'  and  strongest  debaters  in 


that  body.  With  the  expiration  of  his  Senator: 
term  he  returned  to  the  practice  of  his  professio 
becoming  the  head  of  one  of  the  strongest  firms 
the  State. 

The  political  campaign  of  1 888  was  one  of  tl 
most  memorable  in  the  history  of  our  country.  Tl 
convention  which  assembled  in  Chicago  in  June  ai 
named  Mr.  Harrison  as  the  chief  standard  bear 
of  the  Republican  party,  was  great  in  every  parti 
ular,  and  on  this  account,  and  the  attitude  it  a 
sumed  upon  the  vital  questions  of  the  day,  chi 
among  which  was  the  tariff,  awoke  a  deep  intere 
in  the  campaign  throughout  the  Nation.  Short' 
after  the  nomination  delegations  began  to  visit  M 
Harrison  at  Indianapolis,  his  home.  This  movi 
ment  became  popular,  and  from  all  sections  of  tl 
country  societies,  clubs  and  delegations  journeye 
thither  to  pay  their  respects  to  the  distinguishe 
statesman.  The  popularity  of  these  was  great! 
increased  on  account  of  the  remarkable  speechi 
made  by  Mr.  Harrison.  He  spoke  daily  all  throug 
the  summer  and  autumn  to  these  visiting  delegi 
tions,  and  so  varied,  masterly  and  eloquent  wei 
his  speeches  that  they  at  once  placed  him  in  tl 
foremost  rank  of  American  orators  and  statesme; 

On  account  of  his  eloquence  as  a  speaker  and  h: 
power  as  a  debater,  he  was  called  upon  at  an  ui 
commonly  early  age  to  take  part  in  the  discussio 
of  the  great  questions  that  then  began  to  agital 
the  country.  He  was .  an  uncompromising  ant: 
slavery  man,  and  was  matched  against  some  of  t~ 
most  eminent  Democratic  speakers  of  his  Stat. 
No  man  who  felt  the  touch  of  his  blade  derred  t 
be  pitted  with  him  again.  With  all  his  eloq-ienc 
as  an  orator  he  never  spoke  for  oratorical  effec 
but  his  words  always  went  like  bullets  to  the  marl 
He  is  purely  American  in  his  ideas  and  is  a  spier 
did  type  of  the  American  statesman.  Gifted  wit 
quick  perception,  a  logical  mind  and  a  ready  tongue 
he  is  one  of  the  most  distinguished  im  prompt 
speakers  in  the  Nation.  Many  of  these  speeche 
sparkled  with  the  rarest  of  eloquence  and  containei 
arguments  of  greatest  weight.  Many  of  his  ters 
statements  have  already  become  aphorisms.  Origl 
nal  in  thought,  precise  in  logic,  terse  in  statement 
yet  withal  faultless  in  eloquence,  he  is  recognized  a 
th«  sound  statesman  and  briiuan  orator  o-  tac  d»i 


Ik*  Librtr/ 
of  tli« 
«f 


^9*+*' ~ 


GO  VERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


HADRACH  BOND,  the  first 
Governor  of  Illinois  after  its 
organization  as  a  State,  serving 
from  1818  to  1822,  was  born  in 
Frederick  County,  Maryland, 
in  the  year  1773,  and  was 
raised  a  farmer  on  his  father's 
plantation,  receiving  or.ly  a  plain 
English  education.  He  emigrated 
to  this  State  in  1794,  when  it  was  a 
part  of  the  "Northwest  Territory," 
continuing  in  the  vocation  in  which 
he  had  been  brought  up  in  his  native 
State,  in  the  "  New  Design,"  near 
Eagle  Creek,  in  what  is  now  Monroe 
County.  He  served  several  terms  as 
a  member  of  the  General  Assembly 
of  Indiana  Territory,  after  it  was  organized  as  such, 
and  in  1812-14  he  was  a  Delegate  to  the  Twelfth 
and  Thirteenth  Congresses,  taking  his  seat  Dec.  3, 
1812,  and  serving  until  Oct.  3,  [814.  These  were 
ihe  times,  the  reader  will  recollect,  when  this  Gov- 
ernment had  its  last  struggle  with  Great  Britain. 
The  year  1812  is  also  noted  in  the  history  of  this 
State  as  that  in  which  the  first  Territorial  Legislature 
was  held.  It  convened  at  Kaskaskia,  Nov.  25,  and 
adjourned  Dec.  26,  following. 

While  serving  as  Delegate  to  Congress,  Mr.  Bond 
was  instrumental  in  procuring  the  right  of  pre-emp- 
tion on  the  public  domain.  On  the  expiration  of  his 
term  at  Washington  he  was  appointed  Receiver  of 
Public  Moneys  at  Kaskaskia,  then  the  capital  of  I  lie 
Territory.  In  company  with  John  G.  Comyges, 


Thomas  H.  Harris,  Charles  Slade,  Michael  Jones, 
Warren  Brown.  Edward  Humphries  and  Charles  W 
Hunter,  he  became  a  proprietor  of  the  site  of  the 
initial  city  of  Cairo,  which  they  hoped,  from  its  favor- 
able location  at  the  junction  of  the  two  great 
rivers  near  the  center  of  the  Great  West,  would 
rapidly  develop  into  a  metropolis.  To  aid  the  enter- 
prise, they  obtained  a  special  charter  from  the  Legis- 
lature, incorporating  both  the  City  and  the  Bank  of 
Cairo. 

In  1818  Mr.  Bond  was  elected  the  first  Governor 
of  the  State  of  Illinois,  being  inaugurated  Oct.  6 
that  year,  which  was  several  weeks  before  Illinois 
was-  actually  admitted.  The  facts  are  these:  In 
January,  1818,  the  Territorial  Legislature  sent  a  peti- 
tion to  Congress  for  the  admission  of  Illinois  as  a 
State,  Nathaniel  Pope  being  then  Delegate.  The 
petition  was  granted,  fixing  the  northern  line  of  the 
State  on  the  latitude  of  the  southern  extremity  of 
Lake  Michigan ;  but  the  bill  was  afterward  so  amend- 
ed as  to  extend  this  line  to  its  present  latitude.  In 
July  a  convention  was  called  at  Kaskaskia  to  draft  a 
constitution,  which,  however,  was  not  submitted  to 
the  people.  By  its  provisions,  supreme  judges,  pros 
ecuting  attorneys,  county  and  circuit  judges,  record- 
ers and  justices  of  the  peace  were  all  to  be  appointed 
by  the  Governor  or  elected  by  the  Legislature.  This 
constitution  was  accepted  by  Congress  Dec.  30.  At 
that  time  Illinois  comprised  but  eleven  counties, 
namely,  Randolph,  Madison,  Gallatin,  Johnson, 
Pope,  Jackson,  Crawford,  Bond,  Union,  Washington 
and  Franklin,  the  northern  jxmion  of  the  State  be- 
ing mainly  in  Madison  County.  Thus  it  appears 
that  Mr.  Bond  was  honored  by  the  naming  of  a 


SHADRACH  BOND. 


county  before  he  was  elected  Governor.  The  present 
county  of  Bond  is  of  small  limitations,  about  60  to  80 
miles  south  of  Springfield.  For  Lieutenant  Governor 
the  people  chose  Pierre  Menard,  a  prominent  and 
worthy  Frenchman,  after  whom  a  county  in  this  State 
is  named.  In  this  election  there  were  no  opposition 
candidates,  as  the  popularity  of  these  men  had  made 
their  promotion  to  the  chief  offices  of  the  Slate,  even 
before  the  constitution  was  drafted,  a  foregone  con- 
clusion. 

The  principal  points  that  excited  the  people  in 
reference  to  political  issues  at  this  period  were  local 
or  "internal  improvements,"  as  they  were  called, 
State  banks,  location  of  the  capital,  slavery  and  the 
personal  characteristics  of  the  proposed  candidates. 
Mr.  Bond  represented  the  "  Convention  party,"  for 
introducing  slavery  into  the  State,  supported  by  Elias 
Kent  Kane,  his  Secretary  of  State,  and  John  Mc- 
Lean, while  Nathaniel  Pope  and  John  P.  Cook  led 
the  anti-slavery  element.  The  people,  however,  did 
not  become  very  much  excited  over  this  issue  until 
1820,  when  the  famous  Missouri  Compromise  was 
adopted  by  Congress,  limiting  slavery  to  the  south 
of  the  parallel  of  36°  30'  except  in  Missouri.  While 
this  measure  settled  the  great  slavery  controversy, 
so  far  as  the  average  public  sentiment  was  tempor- 
arily concerned,  until  1854,  when  it  was  repealed 
under  the  leadership  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  the  issue 
as  considered  locally  in  this  State  was  not  decided 
until  1824,  after  a  most  furious  campaign.  (See 
sketch  of  Gov.  Coles.)  The  ticket  of  1818  was  a 
com  promise  one,  Bond  representing  (moderately)  the 
pro-slavery  sentiment  and  Menard  the  anti-slavery. 

An  awkward  element  in  the  Sta.te  government 
under  Gov.  Bond's  administration,  was  the  imperfec- 
tion of  the  State  constitution.  The  Convention 
wished  to  have  Elijah  C.  Berry  for  the  first  Auditor 
of  Public  Accounts,  but,  as  it  was  believed  that  the 
new  Governor  would  not  appoint  him  to  the  office, 
the  Convention  declared  in  a  schedule  that  "  an 
auditor  of  public  accounts,  an  attorney  general  and 
such  other  officers  of  the  State  as  may  be  necessary, 
may  be  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly."  The 
Constitution,  as  it  stood,  vested  a  very  large  appoint- 
ing power  in  the  Governor ;  but  for  the  purpose  of 
getting  one  man  into  office,  a  total  change  was  made, 
and  the  power  vested  in  the  Legislature.  Of  this 
provision  the  Legislature  took  advantage,  and  de- 


clared that  State's  attorneys,  canal  commissioners, 
bank  directors,  etc.,  were  all  "  officers  of  the  State '' 
and  must  therefore  be  appointed  by  itself  independ- 
ently of  the  Governor. 

During  Gov.  Bond's  administration  a  general  law 
was  passed  for  the  incorporation  of  academies  and 
towns,  and  one  authorizing  lotteries.  The  session  of 
1822  authorized  the  Governor  to  appoint  commis- 
sioners, to  act  in  conjunction  with  like  commissioners 
appointed  by  the  State  of  Indiana,  to  report  on  the 
practicability  and  expediency  of  improving  the  navi- 
gation of  the  Wabash  River;  also  inland  navigation 
generally.  Many  improvements  were  recommended, 
some  of  which  have  been  feebly  worked  at  even  till 
the  present  day,  those  along  the  Wabash  being  of  no 
value.  Also,  during  Gov.  Bond's  term  of  office,  the 
capital  of  the  State  was  removed  from  Kaskaskia  to 
Vandalia.  In  1820  a  law  was  passed  by  Congress 
authorizing  this  State  to  open  a  canal  through  the 
public  lands.  The  State  appointed  commissioners 
to  explore  the  route  and  prepare  the  necessary  sur- 
veys and  estimates,  preparatory  to  its  execution; 
but,  being  unable  out  of  its  own  resources  to  defray 
the  expenses  of  the  undertaking,  it  was  abandoned 
until  some  time  after  Congress  made  the  grant  of 
land  for  the  purpose  of  its  construction. 

On  the  whole,  Gov.  Bond's  administration  was 
fairly  good,  not  being  open  to  severe  criticism  from 
any  party.  In  1824,  two  years  after  the  expiration 
of  his  term  of  office,  he  was  brought  out  as  a  candi- 
date for  Congress  against  the  formidable  John  P. 
Cook,  but  received  only  4,374  votes  tc  7,460  for  the 
latter.  Gov.  Bond  was  no  orator,  but  had  made 
many  fast  friends  by  a  judicious  beciowment  of  his 
gubernatorial  patronage,  and  these  worked  zealously 
for  him  in  the  campaign. 

In  1827  ex-Gov.  Bond  was  appointed  by  the  Leg- 
islature, with  Wm.  P.  McKee  and  Dr.  Gershom 
Jayne,  as  Commissioners  to  locate  a  site  for  a  peni- 
tentiary on  the  Mississippi  at  or  near  Alton. 

Mr.  Bond  was  of  a  benevolent  and  convivial  dis- 
position, a  man  of  shrewd  observation  and  clear  ap- 
preciation of  events.  His  person  was  erect,  stand- 
ing six  feet  in  height,  and  after  middle  life  became 
portly,  weighing  200  pounds.  His  features  were 
strongly  masculine,  complexion  dark,  hair  jet  and 
eyes  hazel ;  was  a  favorite  with  the  ladies.  He  died 
April  n,  1830,  in  peace  and  contentment 


•f  the 
of  Kiln* 


GO  VERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


DWARD  COLES,  second 
Governor  of  Illinois,  1823- 
6,  was  born  Dec.  15,  1786, 
in  Albemarle  Co.,  Va.,  on 
the  old  family  estate  called 
"Enniscorthy,"  on  the 
Green  Mountain.  His  fath- 
er, John  Coles,  was  a  Colonel  in  the 
Revolutionary  War.  Having  been  fit- 
ted for  college  by  private  tutors,  he 
was  sent  to  Hampden  Sidney,  where 
he  remained  until  the  autumn  of  1805, 
when  he  was  removed  to  William  and 
Mary  College,  at  Williamsburg,  Va. 
This  college  he  left  in  the  summer  of 
1807,  a  short  time  before  the  final  and  graduating 
examination.  Among  his  classmates  were  Lieut. 
Gen.  Scott,  President  John  Tyler,  Wm.  S.  Archer, 
United  States  Senator  from  Virginia,  and  Justice 
Baldwin,  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court.  The 
President  of  the  latter  college,  Bishop  Madison,  was 
a  cousin  of  President  James  Madison,  and  that  cir- 
cumstance was  the  occasion  of  Mr.  Coles  becoming 
personally  acquainted  with  the  President  and  re- 
ceiving a  position  as  his  private  secretary,  1809-15. 
The  family  of  Coles  was  a  prominent  one  in  Vir- 
ginia, and  their  mansion  was  the  seat  of  the  old- 
fashioned  Virginian  hospitality.  It  was  visited  by 
such  notables  as  Patrick  Henry,  Jefferson,  Madison, 
Monroe,  the  Randolphs,  T azewell,  Wirt,  etc.  At  the 
age  of  23,  youno  Loles  found  himself  heir  to  a  plant- 
ation and  a  considerable  number  of  slaves.  Ever 
since  his  earlier  college  days  his  attention  had  been 
drawn  to  the  ques'.io  i  of  slavery.  He  read  every- 


thing on  the  subject  that  came  in  his  way,  and 
listened  to  lectures  on  the  rights  of  man.  The  more 
he  reflected  upon  the  subject,  the  more  impossible 
was  it  for  him  to  reconcile  the  immortal  declaration 
"that  all  men  are  born  free  and  equal"  with  the 
practice  of  slave-holding.  He  resolved,  therefore,  to 
free  his  slaves  the  first  opportunity,  and  even  remove 
his  residence  to  a  free  State.  One  reason  which  de- 
termined him  to  accept  the  appointment  as  private 
secretary  to  Mr.  Madison  was  because  he  believed 
that  through  the  acquaintances  he  could  make  at 
Washington  he  could  better  determine  in  what  part 
of  the  non-slaveholding  portion  of  the  Union  he  woulc 
prefer  to  settle. 

The  relations  between  Mr.  Coles  and  President 
Madison,  as  well  as  Jefferson  and  other  distinguished 
men,  were  of  a  very  friendly  character,  arising  from 
the  similarity  of  their  views  on  the  question  of  slavery 
and  their  sympathy  for  each  other  in  holding  doc- 
trines so  much  at  variance  with  the  prevailing  senti- 
ment in  their  own  State. 

In  1857,  he  resigned  his  secretaryship  and  spent  a 
portion  of  the  following  autumn  in  exploring  the 
Northwest  Territory,  for  the  purpose  of  finding  a  lo- 
cation and  purchasing  lands  on  which  to  settle  his 
negroes.  He  traveled  with  a  horse  and  buggy,  with 
an  extra  man  and  horse  for  emergencies,  through 
many  parts  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois  and  Missouri, 
determining  finally  to  settle  in  Illinois.  At  this  time, 
however,  a  misunderstanding  arose  between  our 
Government  and  Russia,  and  Mr.  Coles  was  selected 
to  repair  to  St.  Petersburg  on  a  special  mission,  bear- 
ing important  papers  concerning  the  matter  at  issue 
The  result  was  a  conviction  of  the  Emperor  (Alex- 


,-,6 


EDWARD  COLES. 


ander)  of  the  error  committed  by  his  minister  at 
Washington,  and  the  consequent  withdrawal  of  the 
the  latter  from  the  post.  On  his  return,  Mr.  Coles 
visited  other  parts  of  Europe,  especially  Paris,  where 
he  was  introduced  to  Gen.  Lafayette. 

In  the  spring  of  1819,  he  removed  with  all  his 
negroes  from  Virginia  to  Edwardsville,  111.,  with  the 
intention  of  giving  them  their  liberty.  He  did  not 
make  known  to  them  his  intention  until  one  beautiful 
morning  in  April,  as  they  were  descending  the  Ohio 
River.  He  lashed  all  the  boats  together  and  called 
all  the  negroes  on  deck  and  made  them  a  short  ad- 
dress, concluding  his  remarks  by  so  expressing  him- 
self that  by  a  turn  of  a  sentence  he  proclaimed  in 
the  shortest  and  fullest  manner  that  they  were  no 
longer  slaves,  but  free  as  he  was  and  were  at  liberty 
to  proceed  with  him  or  go  ashore  at  their  pleas- 
ure. A  description  of  the  effect  upon  the  negroes  is 
best  desciibed  in  his  own  language  : 

"  The  effect  upon  them  was  electrical.  They  stared 
at  me  and  then  at  each  other,  as  if  doubting  the  ac- 
curacy or  reality  of  what  they  heard.  In  breathless 
silence  they  stood  before  me,  unable  to  utter  a  word, 
but  with  countenances  beaming  with  expression  which 
no  words  could  convey,  and  which  no  language 
can  describe.  As  they  began  to  see  the  truth  of 
what  they  had  heard,  and  realize  their  situation,  there 
came  on  a  kind  of  hysterical,  giggling  laugh.  After 
a  pause  of  intense  and  unutterable  emotion,  bathed 
in  tears,  and  with  tremulous  voices,  they  gave  vent  to 
their  gratitude  and  implored  the  blessing  of  God 
on  me." 

Before  landing  he  gave  them  a  general  certificate 
of  freedom,  and  afterward  conformed  more  particu- 
larly with  the  law  of  this  State  requiring  that  each 
individual  should  have  a  certificate.  This  act  of 
Mr.  Coles,  all  the  more  noble  and  heroic  considering 
the  overwhelming  pro-slavery  influences  surrounding 
him,  has  challenged  the  admiration  of  every  philan- 
thropist of  modern  times. 

March  5,  1819,  President  Monroe  appointed  Mr. 
Coles  Registrar  of  the  Land  Office  at  Edwardsvihe, 
at  that  time  one  of  the  principal  land  offices  in  the 
State.  While  acting  in  this  capacity  and  gaining 
many  friends  by  his  politeness  and  general  intelli- 
gence, the  greatest  struggle  that  ever  occurred  in 
Illinois  on  the  slavery  quesiion  culminated  in  the 
furious  contest  characterizing  the  campaigns  and 
elections  of  1822-4.  In  the  summer  of  1823,  when  a 
new  Governor  was  to  be  elected  to  succeed  Mr. 
Bond,  the  pro-slavery  element  divided  into  factions, 
putting  forward  for  the  executive  office  Joseph 
Phillips,  Chief  Justice  of  the  State,  Thomas  C. 
Browne  and  Gen.  James  B.  Moore,  of  the  State  Mil- 
itia. The  anti-slavery  element  united  upon  Mr. 
Coles,  and,  after  one  of  the  most  bitter  campaigns, 
succeeded  in  electing  him  as  Governor.  His  plural- 
ity over  Judge  Phillips  was  only  59  in  a  total  vote  of 


over  8,000.  The  Lieutenant  Governor  was  elected 
by  the  slavery  men.  Mr.  Coles' inauguration  speech 
was  marked  by  calmness,  deliberation  and  such  a 
wise  expression  of  appropriate  suggestions  as  to 
elicit  the  sanction  of  all  judicious  politicians.  But 
he  compromised  not  with  evil.  In  his  message  to 
the  Legislature,  the  seat  of  Government  being  then 
at  Vandalia,  he  strongly  urged  the  abrogation  of  the 
modified  form  of  slavery  whn-.h  then  existed  in  this 
State,  contrary  to  the  Ordinance  of  1787.  His  posi- 
tion on  this  subject  seems  the  more  remarkable,  when 
it  is  considered  that  he  was  a  minority  Governor,  the 
population  of  Illinois  being  at  that  time  almost  ex- 
clusively from  slave-holding  States  and  by  a  large 
majority  in  favor  of  the  perpetuation  of  that  old  relic 
of  barbarism.  The  Legislature  itself  was,  of  course, 
a  reflex  of  the  popular  sentiment,  and  a  majority  of 
them  were  led  on  by  fiery  men  in  denunciations  of 
the  conscientious  Governor,  and  in  curses  loud  and 
deep  upon  him  and  all  his  friends.  Some  of  the 
public  men,  indeed,  went  so  far  as  to  head  a  sort  of 
mob,  or  "  shiveree  "  party,  who  visited  the  residence 
of  the  Governor  and  others  at  Vandalia  and  yelled 
and  groaned  and  spat  fire. 

The  Constitution,  not  establishing  or  permitting 
slavery  in  this  State,  was  thought  therefore  to  be 
defective  by  the  slavery  politicians,  and  they  desired 
a  State  Convention  to  be  elected,  to  devise  and  sub- 
mit a  new  Constitution;  and  the  dominant  politics 
of  the  day  was  "Convention"  and  "anti-Conven- 
tion." Both  parties  issued  addresses  to  the  people, 
Gov.  Coles  himself  being  the  author  of  the  address 
published  by  the  latter  party.  This  address  revealed 
the  schemes  of  the  conspirators  in  a  masterly  man- 
ner. It  is  difficult  for  us  at  this  distant  day  to  esti- 
mate the  critical  and  extremely  delicate  situation  in 
which  the  Governor  was  placed  at  that  time. 

Our  hero  maintained  himself  honorably  and  with 
supreme  dignity  throughout  his  administration,  and 
in  his  honor  a  county  in  this  State  is  named.  He 
was  truly  a  great  man,  and  those  who  lived  in 
this  State  during  his  sojourn  here,  like  those  who 
live  at  the  base  of  the  mountain,  were  too  near  to  see 
and  recognize  the  greatness  that  overshadowed  them. 

Mr.  Coles  was  married  Nov.  28,  1833,  by  Bishop 
De  Lancey,  to  Miss  Sally  Logan  Roberts,  a  daughter 
of  Hugh  Roberts,  a  descendant  of  Welsh  ancestry, 
who  cam .J  to  this  country  with  Wm.  Penn  in  1682. 

After  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  service,  Gov. 
Coles  continued  his  residence  in  Edwardsville,  sup- 
erintending his  farm  in  the  vicinity.  He  was  fond 
of  agriculture,  and  was  the  founder  of  the  first  agri- 
cultural society  in  the  State.  On  account  of  ill 
health,  however,  and  having  no  family  to  tie  him 
down,  he  spent  much  of  his  time  in  Eastern  cities. 
About  1832  he  changed  his  residence  to  Philadel- 
phia, where  he  died  July  7,  1868,  and  is  buried  at 
Woodland,  near  that  city. 


•f  the 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


'  u 


INIAN  EDWARDS,  Governor 
from  1827  to  1  830,  was  a  son 
of  Benjamin  Edwards,  and 
was  born  in  Montgomery 
County,  Maryland,  in  March, 
1775.  His  domestic  train- 
as  well  fitted  to  give 
his  mind  strength,  firmness  and 
honorable  principles,  and  a  good 
foundation  was  laid  for  the  elevated 
character  to  which  he  afterwards 
attained.  His  parents  were  Bap- 
tists, and  very  strict  in  their  moral 
principles.  His  education  in  early 
youth  was  in  company  with  and 
partly  under  the  tuition  of  Hon.  Wm. 
Wirt,  whom  his  father  patronized 
and  who  was  more  than  two  years 
older.  An  intimacy  was  thus 
formed  between  them  which  was  lasting  for  life.  He 
was  further  educated  at  Dickinson  College,  at  Car- 
lisle, Pa.  He  next  commenced  the  study  of  law,  but 
before  completing  his  course  he  moved  to  Nelson 
County,  Ky.,  to  open  a  farm  for  his  father  and  to 
purchase  homes  and  locate  lands  for  his  brothers  and 
sisters.  Here  he  fell  in  the  company  of  dissolute 
companions,  and  for  several  years  led  the  life  of  a 
spendthrift.  He  was,  however,  elected  to  the  Legis- 
lature of  Kentucky  as  the  Representative  of  Nelson 
bounty  before  he  was  2  1  years  of  age,  and  was  re- 
lected  by  an  almost  unanimous  vote. 


In  1798  he  was  licensed  to  practice  law,  and  the 
following  year  was  admitted  to  the  Courts  of  Tennes- 
see. About  this  time  he  left  Nelson  County  for 
Russellville,  in  Logan  County,  broke  away  from  his 
dissolute  companions,  commenced  a  reformation  and 
devoted  himself  to  severe  and  laborious  study.  He 
then  began  to  rise  rapidly  in  his  profession,  and  soon 
became  an  eminent  lawyer,  and  inside  of  four  years 
he  filled  in  succession  the  offices  of  Presiding  Judge 
of  the  General  Court,  Circuit  Judge,  fourth  Judge  of 
the  Court  of  Appeals  and  Chief  Justice  of  the  State, 
— all  before  he  was  32  years  of  age!  In  addition,  in 
r8o2,  he  received  a  commission  as  Major  of  a  battal- 
ion of  Kentucky  militia,  and  in  1804  was  chosen  a 
Presidential  Elector,  on  the  Jefferson  and  Clinton 
ticket.  In  1806  he  was  a  candidate  for  Congress, 
but  withdrew  on  being  promoted  to  the  Court  of 
Appeals. 

Illinois  was  organized  as  a  separate  Territory  in 
the  spring  of  1809,  when  Mr.  Edwards,  then  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  in  Kentucky,  received 
from  President  Madison  the  appointment  as  Gover- 
nor of  the  new  Territory,  his  commission  bearing  date 
April  24,  1809.  Edwards  arrived  at  Kaskaskia  in 
June,  and  on  the  i  ith  of  that  month  took  the  oath  of 
office.  At  the  same  time  he  was  appointed  Superin- 
tendent of  the  United  States  Saline,  this  Government 
interest  then  developing  into  considerable  proportions 
in  Southern  Illinois.  Although  during  the  first  three 
years  of  his  administration  he  had  the  power  to  make 
new  counties  and  appoint  all  the  officers,  yet  he  always 
allowed  the  people  of  each  county,  by  an  informal 


NINIAN  EDWARDS. 


vote,  to  select  their  own  officers,  both  civil  and  mili- 
tary. The  noted  John  J.  Crittenden,  afterward 
United  States  Senator  from  Kentucky,  was  appointed 
by  Gev.  Edwards  to  the  office  of  Attorney  General  of 
the  Territory,  which  office  was  accepted  for  a  short 
time  only. 

The  Indians  in  1810  committing  sundry  depreda- 
tions in  the  Territory,  crossing  the  Mississippi  from 
the  Territory  of  Louisiana,  a  long  correspondence  fol- 
lowed between  the  respective  Governors  concerning 
the  remedies,  which  ended  in  a  council  with  the  sav- 
ages at  Peoria  in  1812,  and  a  fresh  interpretation  of 
the  treaties.  Peoria  was  depopulated  by  these  de- 
predations, and  was  not  re-settled  for  many  .years 
afterward. 

As  Gov.  Edwards'  term  of  office  expired  by  law  in 
1812,  he  was  re-appointed  for  another  term  of  three 
years,  and  again  in  1815  for  a  third  term,  serving 
until  the  organization  of  the  State  in  the  fall  of  1818 
and  the  inauguration  of  Gov.  Bond.  At  this  time 
ex-Gov.  Edwards  was  sent  to  the  United  States 
Senate,  his  colleague  being  Jesse  B.  Thomas.  As 
Senator,  Mr.  Edwards  took  a  conspicuous  part,  and 
acquitted  himself  honorably  in  all  the  measures  that 
came  up  in  that  body,  being  well  posted,  an  able  de- 
bater and  a  conscientious  statesman.  He  thought 
seriously  of  resigning  this  situation  in  1821,  but  was 
persuaded  by  his  old  friend,  Wm.  Wirt,  and  others  to 
continue  in  office,  which  he  did  to  the  end  of  the 
term. 

He  was  then  appointed  Minister  to  Mexico  by 
President  Monroe.  About  this  time,  it  appears  that 
Mr.  Edwards  saw  suspicious  signs  in  the  conduct  of 
Wm.  H.  Crawford,  Secretary  of  the  United  States 
Treasury,  and  an  ambitious  candidate  for  the  Presi- 
dency, and  being  implicated  by  the  latter  in  some  of 
his  statements,  he  resigned  his  Mexican  mission  in 
order  fully  to  investigate  the  charges.  The  result 
was  the  exculpation  of  Mr.  Edwards. 

Pro-slavery  regulations,  often  termed  "Black  Laws," 
disgraced  the  statute  books  of  both  the  Territory  and 
;he  State  of  Illinois  during  the  whole  of  his  career  in 
:his  commonwealth,  and  Mr.  Edwards  always  main- 
tained the  doctrines  of  freedom,  and  was  an  important 
actor  in  the  great  struggle  which  ended  in  a  victory 
for  his  parfy  in  1824. 

In  i826--7  the  Winnebago  and  other  Indians  com- 
mitted some  depredations  in  the  northern  part  of  the 


State,  and  the  white  settlers,  who  desired  the  lands 
and  wished  to  exasperate  the  savages  into  an  evacu- 
ation of  the  country,  magnified  the  misdemeanors  of 
the  aborigines  and  thereby  produced  a  hostility  be- 
tween the  races  so  great  as  to  precipitate  a  little  war, 
known  in  history  as  the  "Winnebago  War."  A  few 
chases  and  skirmishes  were  had,  when  Gen.  Atkinson 
succeeded  in  capturing  Red  Bird,  the  Indian  chief, 
and  putting  him  to  death,  thus  ending  the  contest,  at 
least  until  the  troubles  commenced  which  ended  in 
the  "  Black  Hawk  War  "  of  1832.  In  the  interpre- 
tation of  treaties  and  execution  of  their  provisions 
Gov.  Edwards  had  much  vexatious  work  to  do.  The 
Indians  kept  themselves  generally  within  the  juris- 
diction of  Michigan  Territory,  and  its  Governor, 
Lewis  Cass,  was  at  a  point  so  remote  that  ready  cor- 
respondence with  him  was  difficult  or  impossible. 
Gov.  Edwards'  administration,  however,  in  regard  to 
the  protection  of  the  Illinois  frontier,  seems  to  hava 
been  very  efficient  and  satisfactory. 

For  a  considerable  portion  of  his  time  after  his  re- 
moval to  Illinois,  Gov.  Edwards  resided  upon  his 
farm  near  Kaskaskia,  which  he  had  well  stocked  with 
horses,  cattle  and  sheep  from  Kentucky,  also  with 
fruit-trees,  grape-vines  and  shrubbery.  He  estab- 
lished saw  and  grist-mills,  and  engaged  extensively 
in  mercantile  business,  having  no  less  than  eight  or  ten 
stores  in  this  State  and  Missouri.  Notwithstanding 
the  arduous  duties  of  his  office,  he  nearly  always  pur- 
chased the  goods  himself  with  which  to  supply  the 
stores.  Although  not  a  regular  practitioner  of  medi- 
cine, he  studied  the  healing  art  to  a  considerable  ex- 
tent, and  took  great  pleasure  in  prescribing  for,  and 
taking  care  of,  the  sick,  generally  without  charge. 
He  was  also  liberal  to  the  poor,  several  widows  and 
ministers  of  the  gospel  becoming  indebted  to  him 
even  for  their  homes. 

He  married  Miss  Elvira  Lane,  of  Maryland,  in 
1803,  and  they  became  the  affectionate  parents  of 
several  children,  one  of  whom,  especially,  is  well' 
known  to  the  people  of  the  "  Prairie  State,"  namely, 
Ninian  Wirt  Edwards,  once  the  Superintendent  c' 
Public  Instruction  and  still  a  resident  of  Springfield 
Gov.  Edwards  resided  at  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Kas- 
kaskia  from  1809  to  1818;  in  Edwardsville  (named 
after  him)  from  that  time  to  1824;  and  from  the  lat- 
ter date  at  Belleville,  St.  Clair  County,  until  his 
death,  July  20,  1833,  of  Asiatic  cholera.  Edwards 
County  is  also  named  in  his  honor. 


of  the 
of 


GO  VERNGRS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


OHN  REYNOLDS,  Governor  1831- 
4,  was  born  in  Montgomery  Coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania,  Feb.  26,  1788. 
His  father,  Robert  Reynolds  and 
i  mother,  nee  Margaret  Moore, 
were  both  natives  of  Ireland,  from 
which  country  they  emigrated  to 
the  United  States  in  1785,  land- 
ing at  Philadelphia.  The  senior 
Reynolds  entertained  an  undying 
hostility  to  the  British  Govern- 
ment. When  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  about  six  months  old, 
his  parents  emigrated  with  him  to 
Tennessee,  where  many  of  their 
relatives  had  already  located,  at  the  base  of  the 
Copper  Ridge  Mountain,  about  14  miles  northeast  of 
the  present  city  of  Knoxville.  There  they  were  ex- 
posed to  Indian  depredations,  and  were  much  molest- 
ed by  them.  In  1794  they  moved  into  the  interior 
of  the  State.  They  were  poor,  and  brought  up  their 
children  to  habits  of  manual  industry. 

In  1800  the  family  removed  to  Kaskaskia,  111.,  with 
eight  horses  and  two  wagons,  encountering  many 
Hardships  on  the  way.  Here  young  Reynolds  passed 
the  most  of  his  childhood,  while  his  character  began 
to  develop,  the  most  prominent  traits  of  which  were 
ambition  and  energy.  He  also  adopted  the  principle 
and  practice  of  total  abstinence  from  intoxicating 
liquors.  In  1807  the  family  made  another  removal, 


this  time  to  the  "  Goshen  Settlement,"  at  the  foot  of 
the  Mississippi  bluffs  three  or  four  miles  southwest 
of  Edwardsville. 

On  arriving  at  his  2oth  year,  Mr.  Reynolds,  seeing 
that  he  must  look  about  for  his  own  livelihood  and 
not  yet  having  determined  what  calling  to  pursue, 
concluded  first  to  attend  college,  and  he  accordingly 
went  to  such  an  institution  of  learning,  near  Knox- 
ville, Tenn.,  where  he  had  relatives.  Imagine  his 
diffidence,  when,  after  passing  the  first  20  years  of 
his  life  without  ever  having  seen  a  carpet,  a  papered 
wall  or  a  Windsor  chair,  and  never  having  lived  in  a 
shingle-roofed  house,  he  suddenly  ushered  himself 
into  the  society  of  the  wealthy  in  the  vicinity  of 
Knoxville!  He  attended  college  nearly  two  years, 
going  through  the  principal  Latin  authors ;  but  it 
seems  that  he,  like  the  rest  of  the  world  in  modern 
times,  had  but  very  little  use  for  his  Latin  in  after 
life.  He  always  failed,  indeed,  to  exhibit  any  good 
degree  of  literary  discipline.  He  commenced  the 
study  of  law  in  Knoxville,  but  a  pulmonary  trouble 
came  on  and  compelled  him  to  change  his  mode 
of  life.  Accordingly  he  returned  home  and  re- 
cuperated, and  in  1812  resumed  his  college  and 
law  studies  at  Knoxville.  In  the  fall  of  r8i2  he  was 
admitted  to  the  Bar  at  Kaskaskia.  About  this  time 
he  also  learned  the  French  language,  which  he 
practiced  with  pleasure  in  conversation  with  his 
family  for  many  years.  He  regarded  this  language 
as  being  superior  to  all  others  for  social  intercourse. 


JOHN  REYNOLDS. 


From  his  services  in  the  West,  in  the  war  of  1812, 
he  obtained  the  sobriquet  of  the  "  Old  Ranger."  He 
was  Orderly  Sergeant,  then  Judge  Advocate. 

Mr.  Reynolds  opened  his  first  law  office  in  the 
winter  and  spring  of  1814,  in  the  French  village  of 
Cahokia,  then  the  capital  of  St.  Clair  County. 

In  the  fall  of  1818  he  was  elected  an  Associate 
Justice  upon  the  Supreme  Bench  by  the  General 
Assembly.  In  r825  he  entered  more  earnestly  than 
ever  into  the  practice  of  law,  and  the  very  next  year 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  where  he 
acted  independently  of  all  cliques  and  private  inter- 
ests. In  1828  the  Whigs  and  Democrats  were  for 
the  first  time  distinctively  organized  as  such  in  Illi- 
nois, and  the  usual  party  bitterness  grew  up  and 
raged  on  all  sides,  while  Mr.  Reynolds  preserved  a 
Judicial  calmness  and  moderation.  The  real  animus 
.if  the  campaign  was  "  Jackson  "  and  "  anti-Jackson," 
'he  former  party  carrying  the  State. 

In  August,  1830,  Mr.  Reynolds  was  elected  Gov- 
anor,  amid  great  excitement.  Installed  in  office,  he 
did  all  within  his  power  to  advance  the  cause  of  edu- 
cation, internal  improvements,  the  Illinois  &  Mich- 
igan Canal,  the  harbor  at  Chicago,  settling  the  coun- 
try, etc.;  also  recommended  the  winding  up  of  the 
State  Bank,  as  its  affairs  had  become  dangerously 
complicated.  In  his  national  politics,  hr  was  a 
moderate  supporter  of  General  Jackson.  But  the 
most  celebrated  event  of  his  gubernatorial  admin- 
istration was  the  Black  Hawk  War,  which  occurred 
in  1832.  He  called  out  the  militia  and  prosecuted 
the  contest  with  commendable  diligence,  appearing 
in  person  on  the  battle-grounds  during  the  most 
critical  periods.  He  was  recognized  by  the  President 
as  Major-General,  and  authorized  by  him  to  make 
treaties  with  the  Indians.  By  the  assistance  of  the 
general  Government  the  war  was  terminated  without 
much  bloodshed,  but  after  many  serious  fights.  This 
war,  as  well  as  everything  else,  was  materially  re- 
tarded by  the  occurrence  of  Asiatic  cholera  in  the 
West.  This  was  its  first  appearance  here,  and  was 
the  next  event  in  prominence  during  Gov.  Reynolds' 
term. 

South  Carolina  nullification  coming  up  at  this  time, 
t  was  heartily  condemned  by  both  President  Jackson 
and  Gov.  Reynolds,  who  took  precisely  the  same 
grounds  as  the  Unionists  in  the  last  war. 

On  the  termination  of  his  gubernatorial  term  in 
-834,  Gov.  Reynolds  was  elected  a  Member  of  Con- 
gress, still  considering  himself  a  backwoodsman,  as 
••e  had  scarcely  been  outside  of  the  State  since  he 
became  of  age,  and  had  spent  nearly  all  his  youthful 
iays  v.  the  wildest  region  of  the  frontier.  His  first 
•nove  in  Congress  was  to  adopt  a  resolution  that  in 
all  elections  made  by  the  House  for  officers  the  votes 
should  be  given  viva  wee,  each  member  in  his  place 
naming  aloud  the  person  for  whom  he  votes.  This 
created  considerable  heated  discussion,  but  was  es- 


sentially adopted,  and  remained  the  controlling  prin- 
ciple for  many  years.  The  ex  Governor  was  scarcely 
absent  from  his  seat  a  single  day,  during  eight  ses- 
sions of  Congress,  covering  a  period  of  seven  years, 
and  he  never  vacillated  in  a  party  vote;  but  he  failed 
to  get  the  Democratic  party  to  foster  his  "  National 
Road"  scheme.  He  says,  in  "My  Own  Times"  (a 
large  autobiography  he  published),  that  it  was  only 
by  rigid  economy  that  he  avoided  insolvency  while  in 
Washington.  During liis  sojourn  in  that  city  he  was 
married,  to  a  lidy  of  the  place. 

In  1837,  while  out  of  Congress,  and  in  company 
with  a  few  others,  he  built  the  first  railroad  in  the 
Mississippi  Valley,  namely,  one  about  six  miles  long, 
leading  from  his  coal  mine  in  the  Mississippi  bluff  to 
the  bank  of  the  river  opposite  St.  Louis.  Having  not 
the  means  to  purchase  a  locomotive,  they  operated  it 
by  horse-power.  The  next  spring,  however,  the  com- 
pany sold  out,  at  great  sacrifice. 

In  1839  the  ex-Governor  was  appointed  one  of  the 
Canal  Commissioners,  and  authorized  to  borrow 
money  to  prosecute  the  enterprise.  Accord' ngly,  he 
repaired  to  Philadelphia  and  succeeding  in  obtaining 
a  million  dollars,  which,  however,  was  only  a  fourth 
of  what  was  wanted.  The  same  year  he  and  his 
wife  made  at  our  of  Europe.  This  year,  alsovJMr. 
Reynolds  had  the  rather  awkward  little  responsibility 
of  introducing  to  President  Van  Buren  the  noted 
Mormon  Prophet,  Joseph  Smith,  as  a  "  Latter-Day 
Saint!" 

In  1846  Gov.  Reynolds  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  Legislature  from  St.  Clair  County,  more  particu 
larly  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a  feasible  charter 
for  a  macadamized  road  from  Belleville  to  St.  Louis, 
a  distance  of  nearly  r4  miles.  This  was  immediately 
built,  and  was  the  first  road  of  the  kind  in  the  State. 
He  was  again  elected  to  the  Legislature  in  1852,  when 
he  was  chosen  Speaker  of  the  House.  In  1860,  aged 
and  infirm,  he  attended  the  National  Democratic 
Convention  a'.  Charleston,  S.  C  ,  as  an  anti-Douglas 
Delegate,  where  he  received  more  attention  from  the 
Southern  Delegates  than  any  other  member.  He 
supported  Breckenridge  for  the  Presidency.  After 
the  October  elections  foreshadowed  the  success  of 
Lincoln,  he  published  an  address  urging  the  Demo- 
crats to  rally  to  the  support  of  Douglas.  Immedi- 
ately preceding  and  during  the  late  war,  his  corre- 
spondence evinced  a  clear  sympathy  for  the  Southern 
secession,  and  about  the  first  of  March,  i86r,  he 
urged  upon  the  Buchanan  officials  the  seizure  of  the 
treasure  and  arms  in  the  custom-house  and  arsenal 
at  St.  Louis.  Mr.  Reynolds  was  a  rather  talkative 
man,  and  apt  in  all  the  Western  phrases  and  catch- 
words that  ever  gained  currency,  besides  many  cun- 
ning and  odd  ones  of  his  own  manufacture. 

He  was  married  twice,  but  had  no  children.  He 
died  in  Belleville,  in  May,  1865,  just  after  the  close 
of  the  war. 


•f  th, 

of  I 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


a  fn 


ILLIAM  LEE  D.  EWING, 
Governor  of  Illinois  Nov.  3 
to  17,  1834,  was  a  native 
of  Kentucky,  and  probably 
of  Scotch  ancestry.  He  had 
ne  education,  was  a  gentle- 
man of  polished  manners  and 
refined  sentiment.  In  1830  John  Rey- 
nolds was  elected  Governor  of  the  State, 
and  Zadok  Casey  Lieutenant  Governor, 
and  for  the  principal  events  that  followed, 
and  the  characteristics  of  the  times,  see 
sketch  of  Gov.  Reynolds.  The  first  we 
see  in  history  concerning  Mr.  Ewing,  in- 
_  forms  us  that  he  was  a  Receiver  of  Public 
Moreys  at  Vandalia  soon  after  the  organization  of 
thin  State,  and  that  the  public  moneys  in  his  hands 
v.'ere  deposited  in  various  banks,  as  they  are  usually 
r,r  UK  /resent  day.  In  1823  the  State  Bank  was 
•obbed,. by  which  disaster  Mr.  Ewing  lost  a  thousand- 
dollar  deposit. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  had  a  commission  as 
Colonel  in  the  Black  Hawk  War,  and  in  emergencies 
n<?  acted  also  as  Major.  In  the  summer  of  1832, 
•<vhen  i  was  rumored  among  the  whites  that  Black 
Hawk  ar.d  his  men  had  encamped  somewhere  on 
Rock  River,  Gen.  Henry  was  sent  on  a  tour  of 
reconnoisance,  and  with  orders  to  drive  the  Indians 
from  the  State.  After  some  opposition  from  his 
subordinate  officers,  Henry  resolved  to  proceed  up 
Rock  River  in  search  of  the  enemy.  On  the  igth  of 
'uly,  early  in  the  morning,  five  baggage  wagons. 


camp  equipage  and  all  heavy  and  cumbersome  arti- 
cles were  piled  up  and  left,  so  that  the  army  might 
make  speedy  and  forced  marches.  For  some  miles 
the  travel  was  exceedingly  bad,  crossing  swamps 
and  the  worst  thickets ;  but  the  large,  fresh  trail 
gave  life  and  animation  to  the  Americans.  Gen. 
Dodge  and  Col.  Ewing  were  both  acting  as  Majors, 
and  composed  the  "  spy  corps  "  or  vanguard  of  the 
army.  It  is  supposed  the  army  marched  nearly  50 
miles  this  day,  and  the  Indian  trail  they  followed 
became  fresher,  and  was  strewed  with  much  property 
and  trinkets  of  the  red-skins  that  they  had  lost  or 
thrown  away  to  hasten  their  march.  During  the 
following  night  there  was  a  terrific  thunder-storm,  and 
the  soldiery,  with  all  their  appurtenances,  were  thor- 
oughly drenched. 

On  approaching  nearer  the  Indians  the  next  day. 
Gen.  Dodge  and  Major  Ewing,  each  commanding  a 
battalion  of  men,  were  placed  in  front  to  bring  on  the 
battle,  but  the  savages  were  not  overtaken  this  day 
Forced  marches  were  continued  until  they  reached. 
Wisconsin  River,  where  a  veritable  battle  ensued, 
resulting  in  the  death  of  about  68  of  Black  Hawk's 
men.  The  next  day  they  continued  the  chase,  and 
as  soon  as  he  discovered  the  trail  of  the  Indians 
leading  toward  the  Mississippi,  Maj.  Ewing  formed 
his  battalion  in  order  of  battle  and  awaited  the  order 
of  Gen.  Henry.  The  latter  soon  appeared  on  the 
ground  and  ordered  a  charge,  which  directly  resulted 
in  chasing  the  red  warriors  across  the  great  river. 
Maj.  Esving  and  his  command  proved  particularly 
efficient  in  war,  as  it  seems  they  were  the  chief  actors 
in  driving  the  main  body  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  in- 


is8 


WILLIAM  L.  D.  EWING. 


eluding  Black  Hawk  himself,  across  the  Mississippi, 
while  Gen.  Atkinson,  commander-in-chief  of  the  ex- 
pedition, with  a  body  of  the  army,  was  hunting  for 
them  in  another  direction. 

In  the  above  alTair  Maj.  Ewmg  is  often  referred  to 
as  a  "  General,"  which  title  he  had  derived  from  his 
connection  with  the  militia. 

It  was  in  the  latter  part  of  the  same  year  (1832) 
that  Lieutenant  Governor  Casey  was  elected  to  Con- 
gress and  Gen.  Ewing,  who  had  been  elected  to  the 
Senate,  was  chosen  to  preside  over  that  body.  At 
the  August  election  of  1834,  Gov.  Reynolds  was  also 
elected  to  Congress,  more  than  a  year  ahead  of  the 
time  at  which  he  could  actually  take  his  seat,  as  was 
then  the  law.  His  predecessor,  Charles  Slade,  had 
just  died  of  Asiatic  cholera,  soon  after  the  elec- 
tion, and  Gov.  Reynolds  was  chosen  to  serve  out  his 
unexpired  term.  Accordingly  he  set  out  for  Wash- 
ington in  November  of  that  year  to  take  his  seat  in 
Congress,  and  Gen.  Ewing,  by  virtue  of  his  office  as 
President  of  the  Senate,  became  Governor  of  the 
State  of  Illinois,  his  term  covering  only  a  period  of 
15  days,  namely,  from  the  3d  to  the  iyth  days,  in- 
clusive, of  November.  On  the  lyth  the  Legislature 
met,  and  Gov.  Ewing  transmitted  to  that  body  his 
message,  giving  a  statement  of  the  condition  of  the 
affairs  of  the  State  at  that  time,  and  urging  a  contin- 
uance of  the  policy  adopted  by  his  predecessor ;  and 
on  the  same  day  Governor  elect  Joseph  Duncan 
was  sworn  into  office,  thus  relieving  Mr.  Ewing  from 


the  responsible  situation.  This  is  the  only  time  that 
such  a  juncture  has  happened  in  the  history  of  Illi- 
nois. 

On  the  29th  of  December,  1835,  Gen.  Ewing  was 
elected  a  United  States  Senator  to  serve  out  the 
unexpired  term  of  Elias  Ken:  Kane,  deceased.  The 
latter  gentleman  was  a  very  prominent  figure  in  the 
early  politics  of  Illinois,  and  a  county  in  this  State  is 
named  in  his  honor.  The  election  of  Gen.  Ewing  to 
the  Senate  was  a  protracted  struggle.  His  competi- 
tors were  James  Semple,  who  afterwards  held  several 
important  offices  in  this  State,  and  Richard  M. 
Young,  afterward  a  United  States  Senator  and  a 
Supreme  Judge  and  a  man  of  vast  influence.  On 
the  first  ballot  Mr.  Semple  had  25  votes,  Young  19 
•and  Ewing  18.  On  the  eighth  ballot  Young  was 
dropped ;  the  ninth  and  tenth  stood  a  tie ;  but  on 
the  1 2th  Ewing  received  40,  to  Semple  37,  and  was 
accordingly  declared  elected.  In  1837  Mr.  Ewinr; 
received  some  votes  for  a  continuance  of  his  term  in 
Congress,  when  Mr.  Young,  just  referred  to,  was 
elected.  In  1842  Mr.  Ewing  was  elected  State 
Auditor  on  the  ticket  with  Gov.  Ford. 

Gen.  Ewing  was  a  gentleman  of  culture,  a  lawyer 
by  profession,  and  was  much  in  public  life.  In  person 
he  was  above  medium  height  and  of  heavy  build, 
with  auburn  hair,  blue  eyes,  large-sized  head  and 
short  face.  He  was  genial,  social,  friendly  and 
affable,  with  fair  talent,  though  of  no  high  degree  of 
originality.  He  died  March  25,  1846. 


Tfclftrvy 

tf  the 

<**»r*Jty  of  Ililnw. 


GO  VERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


OSEPH  DUNCAN,  Governor 
1834-8,  was  born  at  Paris, 
Ky.,  Feb.  23,  1794.  At  the 
tender  age  of  19  years  he  en- 
listed in  the  war  against  Great 
Britain,  and  as  a  soldier  he 
[uitted  himself  wiih  credit.  He 
5  an  Ensign  under  the  daunt- 
3  Croghan  at  Lower  Sandusky, 
Fort  Stephenson.  In  Illinois 
rst  appeared  in  a  public  capa- 
city as  Major-General  of  the  Militia, 
a  position  which  his  military  fame 
had  procured  him.  Subsequently 
he  became  a  State  Senator  from 
Jackson  County,  and  is  honorably 
mentioned  for  introducing  the  first  bill  providing  for 
a  free-school  system.  In  1826,  when  the  redoubt- 
able John  P.  Cook,  who  had  previously  beaten  such 
men  as  John  McLean,  Elias  Kent  Kane  and  ex- 
Gov.  Bond,  came  up  for  the  fourth  time  for  Congress, 
Mr.  Duncan  was  brought  forward  against  him  by  his 
friends,  greatly  to  the  surprise  of  all  the  politicians. 
As  yet  he  was  but  little  known  in  the  State.  He  was 
an  original  Jackson  man  at  that  time,  being  attached 
to  his  political  fortune  in  admiration  of  the  glory  of 
his  militaiy  achievements.  His  chances  of  success 
against  Cook  were  generally  regarded  as  hopeless, 
hut  he  entered  upon  the  campaign  undaunted.  His 
speeches,  though  short  and  devoid  of  ornament,  were 
full  of  good  sense.  He  made  a  diligent  canvass  of 
the  State,  Mr.  Cook  being  hindered  by  the  condition  of 
his  health.  The  most  that  was  expected  of  Mr. 
Duncan,  under  the  circumstances,  was  that  he  would 


'obtain  a  respectable  vote,  but  without  defeating  Mr. 
Cook.  The  result  of  the  campaign,  however,  was  a 
source  of  surprise  and  amazement  to  both  friends 
and  foes,  as  Mr.  Duncan  came  out  641  votes  ahead! 
He  received  6,321  votes,  and  Mr.  Cook  5,680.  Un- 
til this  denouement,  the  violence  of  party  feeling 
smoldering  in  the  breasts  of  the  people  on  account 
of  the  defeat  of  Jackson,  was  not  duly  appreciated. 
Aside  from  the  great  convention  struggle  of  1824,  no 
other  than  mere  local  and  penonal  considerations 
had  ever  before  controlled  an  election  in  Illinois. 

From  the  above  date  Mr.  Duncan  retained  his 
seat  in  Congress  until  his  election  as  Governor  in 
August,  1834.  The  first  and  bloodless  year  of  the 
Black  Hawk  War  he  was  appointed  by  Gov.  Rey- 
nolds to  the  position  of  Brigadier-General  of  the 
volunteers,  and  he  conducted  his  brigade  to  Rock 
Island.  But  he  was  absent  from  the  State,  in  Wash- 
ington, during  the  gubernatorial  campaign,  and  did 
not  personally  participate  in  it,  but  addressed  circu- 
lars to  his  constituents.  His  election  was,  indeed, 
attributed  to  the  circumstance  of  his  absence,  be- 
cause his  estrangement  from  Jackson,  formerly  his 
political  idol,  and  also  from  the  Democracy,  largely 
in  ascendency  in  the  State,  was  complete ;  but  while 
his  defection  was  well  known  to  his  Whig  friends, 
and  even  to  the  leading  Jackson  men  of  this  State, 
the  latter  were  unable  to  carry  conviction  of  that  fact 
to  the  masses,  as  mail  and  newspaper  facilities  at 
that  day  were  far  inferior  to  those  of  the  present 
time.  Of  course  the  Governor  was  much  abused 
afterward  by  the  fossilized  Jackson  men  who  re- 
garded party  ties  and  affiliations  as  nbove  all 
other  issues  that  could  arise ;  but  he  was  douotless 


JOSEPH  DUNCAN. 


sincere  in  his  opposition  to  the  old  hero,  as  the  latter 
.;ad  vetoed  several  important  western  measures 
which  were  dear  to  Mr.  Duncan.  In  his  inaugural 
message  he  threw  off  the  mask  and  took  a  bold  stand 
tigainst  the  course  of  the  President.  The  measures 
te  recommended  in  his  message,  however,  were  so 
desirable  that  the  Legislature,  although  by  a  large 
majority  consisting  of  Jackson  men,  could  not  refrain 
from  endorsing  them.  These  measures  related 
mainly  to  bar.ks  and  internal  improvements. 

It  was  while  Mr.  Duncan  was  Governor  that  the 
people  of  Illinois  went  whirling  on  with  bank  and  in- 
ternal improvement  schemes  that  well  nigh  bank- 
"upted  the  State.  The  hard  times  of  1837  came  on, 
and  the  disasters  that  attended  the  inauguration  of 
ihese  plans  and  the  operation  of  the  banks  were  mu- 
tually charged  upon  the  two  political  parties.  Had 
any  one  man  autocratic  power  to  introduce  and 
carry  on  any  one  of  these  measures,  he  would  proba- 
bly have  succeeded  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  public; 
but  as  many  jealous  men  had  hold  of  the  same  plow 
handle,  no  success  followed  and  each  blamed  the  other 
for  the  failure.  In  this  great  vortex  Gov.  Duncan 
was  carried  along,  suffering  the  like  derogation  of 
character  with  his  fellow  citizens. 

At  the  height  of  the  excitement  the  Legislature 
"  provided  for  "  railroads  from  Galena  to  Cairo,  Alton 
to  Shawneetown,  Alton  to  Mount  Carmel,  Alton  to  the 
eastern  boundary  of  the  State  in  the  direction  of 
Terre  Haute,  Quincy  via  Springfield  to  the  Wabash, 
Bloomington  to  Pekin,  and  Peoria  to  Warsaw, — in  all 
about  1,300  miles  of  road.  It  also  provided  for  the 
improvement  of  the  navigation  of  the  Kaskaskia, 
Illinois,  Great  and  Little  Wabash  and  Rock  Rivers  ; 
also  as  a  placebo,  $200,000  in  money  were  to  be  dis- 
.ributed  to  the  various  counties  wherein  no  improve- 
ments were  ordered  to  be  made  as  above.  The 
estimate  for  the  expenses  for  all  these  projects  was 
placed  at  a  little  over  $10,000,000,  which  was  not 
more  ihan  half  enough!  That  would  now  be  equal  to 
saddling  upon  the  State  a  debt  of  $225,000,000  !  It 
was  sufficient  to  bankrupt  the  State  several  times 
over,  even  counting  all  the  possible  benefits. 

One  of  the  most  exciting  events  that  ever  occurred 
in  this  fair  State  was  the  murder  of  Elijah  P.  Love- 
ioy  in  the  fall  of  r837,  at  Alton,  during  Mr.  Duncan's 
term  as  Governor.  Lovejoy  was  an  "  Abolitionist," 
editing  the  Observer  at  that  place,  and  the  pro- 
slavery  slums  there  formed  themselves  into  a  mob, 


and  after  destroying  successively  three  presses  be- 
longing to  Mr.  Lovejoy,  surrounded  the  warehouse 
where  the  fourth  press  was  stored  away,  endeavoring 
to  destroy  it,  and  where  Lovejoy  and  his  friends 
were  entrenching  themselves,  and  shot  and  killed  the 
brave  reformer! 

About  this  time,  also,  the  question  of  removing  the 
State  capital  again  came  up,  as  the  20  years'  limit  for 
its  existence  at  Vandalia  was  drawing  to  a  close. 
There  was,  of  course,  considerable  excitement  over 
the  matter,  the  two  main  points  competing  for  it  be- 
ing Springfield  and  Peoria.  The  jealousy  of  the  lat- 
ter place  is  not  even  yet,  45  years  afterward,  fully 
allayed. 

Gov.  Duncan's  term  expired  in  1838.  In  1842 
he  was  again  proposed  as  a  candidate  for  the  Execu- 
tive chair,  this  time  by  the  Whig  party,  against  Adam 
W.  Snyder,  of  St.  Clair  County,  the  nominee  of  the 
Democrats.  Charles  W.  Hunter  was  a  third  candi- 
date for  the  same  position.  Mr.  Snyder,  however,  died 
before  the  campaign  had  advanced  very  far,  and  his 
party  substituted  Thomas  Ford,  who  was  elected 
receiving  46,9or  votes,  to  38,584  for  Duncan,  and 
909  for  Hunter.  The  cause  of  Democratic  success 
at  this  time  is  mainly  attributed  to  the  temporary 
support  of  the  Mormons  which  they  enjoyed,  and  the 
want  o.'  any  knowledge,  on  the  part  of  the  masses, 
that  Mr.  Ford  was  opposed  to  any  given  policy  en- 
tertained in  the  respective  localities. 

Gov.  Duncan  was  a  man  of  rather  limited  educa- 
tion, but  with  naturally  fine  abilities  he  profited 
greatly  by  his  various  public  services,  and  gathered 
a  store  of  knowledge  regarding  public  affairs  which 
served  him  a  ready  purpose.  He  possessed  a  clear 
judgment,  decision,  confidence  in  himself  and  moral 
courage  to  carry  out  his  convictions  of  right.  In  his 
deportment  he  was  well  adapted  to  gain  the  admira- 
tion of  the  people.  His  intercourse  with  them  was 
both  affable  and  dignified.  His  portrait  at  the  Gov- 
ernor's mansion,  from  which  the  accompanying  was 
made,  represents  him  as  having  a  swarthy  complex- 
ion, high  cheek  bones,  broad  forehead,  piercing  blaci; 
eyes  and  straight  black  hair. 

He  was  a  liberal  patron  of  the  Illinois  College  at 
Jacksonville,  a  member  of  its  Board  of  Trustees,  and 
died,  after  a  short  illness,  Jan.  i;,  1844,  a  devoted 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  leaving  a  wife 
but  no  children.  Two  children,  born  to  them,  had 
died  in  infancy. 


ft*  libra* 

•fib 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


[HOMAS  CARLIN,  the  sixth 
Governor  of  the  State  of 
Illinois,  serving  from  1838 
to  1842,  was  also  a  Ken- 
tuckian,  being  born  near 
Frankfort,  that  State,  July 
18,  1789,  of  Irish  paternity. 
The  opportunities  for  an  education 
being  very  meager  in  his  native 
place,  he,  on  approaching  years  of 
judgment  and  maturity,  applied 
himself  to  those  branches  of  learn- 
ing that  seemed  most  important, 
and  thus  became  a  self-made  man  ; 
and  his  taste  for  reading  and 
study  remained  with  him  through 
life.  In  1803  his  father  removed 
to  Missouri,  then  a  part  of  "  New  Spain,"  where  he 
died  in  1810. 

In  1812  young  Carlin  came  to  Illinois  and  partici- 
pated in  all  the  "ranging"  service  incident  to  the 
war  of  that  period,  proving  himself  a  soldier  of  un- 
daunted bravery.  In  1814  he  married  Rebecca 
Huitt,  and  lived  for  four  years  on  the  bank  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Mis- 
sc.,vi,  where  he  followed  farming,  and  then  removed 
to  Greene  County.  He  located  the  town  site  of  Car- 
re-'ton,  in  that  county,  and  in  1825  made  a  liberal 
donation  of  land  for  county  building  purposes.  He 
was  the  first  Sheriff  of  that  county  after  its  separate 
organization,  and  afterward  was  twice  elected,  as  a 
Jackson  Democrat,  to  the  Illinois  Senate.  In  the 
Black  Hawk  War  he  commanded  a  spy  battalion,  a 
post  of  considerable  danger.  In  1834  he  was  ap- 
pointed by  President  Jackson  to  the  position  of 
Receiver  of  Public  Moneys,  and  to  fulfill  the  office 


more  conveniently  he  removed  to  the  city  of  Quincy. 

While,  in  1838,  the  unwieldy  internal  improvement 
system  of  the  State  was  in  full  operation,  with  all  its 
expensive  machinery,  amidst  bank  suspensions 
throughout  the  United  States,  a  great  stringency  in 
the  money  market  everywhere,  and  Illinois  bonds 
forced  to  sale  at  a  heavy  discount,  and  the  "  hardest 
times  "  existing  that  the  people  of  the  Prairie  State 
ever  saw,  the  general  election  of  State  officers  was 
approaching.  Discreet  men  who  had  cherished  the 
hope  of  a  speedy  subsidence  of  the  public  infatua- 
tion, met  with  disappointment.  A  Governor  and 
Legislature  were  to  be  elected,  and  these  were  now 
looked  forward  to  for  a  repeal  of  the  ruinous  State 
policy.  But  the  grand  schema  had  not  yet  lost  its 
dazzling  influence  upon  the  minds  of  the  people. 
Time  and  experience  had  not  yet  fully  demonstrated 
its  utter  absurdity.  Hence  the  question  of  arresting 
its  career  of  profligate  expenditures  did  not  become 
a  leading  one  with  the  dominant  party  during  the 
camp.iign,  and  most  of  the  old  members  of  the  Leg 
islature  were  returned  at  this  election. 

Under  these  circumstances  the  Democrats,  in  State 
Convention  assembled,  nominated  Mr.  Carlin  for  the 
office  of  Govjrnor,  and  S.  H.  Anderson  for  Lieuten- 
ant Governor,  while  the  Whigs  nominated  Cyrus  Ed- 
wards, brotherof  Ninian  Edwards,  formerly  Governor, 
and  W.  H.  Davidson.  Edwards  came  out  strongly 
for  a  continuance  of  the  State  policy,  while  Catii^ 
remained  non-committal.  This  was  the  first  time 
that  the  two  main  political  parties  in  this  State  were 
unembar-assed  by  any  third  party  in  the  field.  The 
result  of  the  election  was:  Carlin,  35,573;  Ander- 
son, 30,335  ;  Edwards,  29,629 ;  and  Davidson,  28,- 
7t.S- 

Upon  the  meeting  of  the  subsequent  Legislature 
(1839),  the  retiring  Governor  CDuncan)  in  his  rues- 


THOMAS  CARLIN. 


sage  spoke  in  emphatic  terms  of  the  impolicy  of  the 
internal  improvement  system,  presaging  the  evils 
threatened,  and  uiged  that  body  to- do  their  utmost 
to  correct  the  great  error ;  yet,  on  the  contrary,  the 
Legislature  not  only  decided  to  continue  the  policy 
but  also  added  to  its  burden  by  voting  more  appro- 
priations and  ordering  more  improvements.  Although 
the  money  market  was  still  stringent,  a  further  loan 
of  $4,000,000  was  ordered  for  the  Illinois  &  Mich- 
igan Canal  alone.  Ch'cago  at  that  time  began  to 
loom  up  and  promise  to  be  an  important  city,  even 
the  great  emporium  of  the  West,  as  it  has  since  in- 
deed came  to  be.  Ex-Gov.  Reynolds,  an  incompe- 
tent financier,  was  commissioned  to  effect  the  loan, 
and  accordingly  hastened  to  the  East  on  this  respons- 
ible errand,  and  negotiated  the  loans,  at  considera- 
ble sacrifice  to  the  State.  Besides  this  embarrassment 
to  Carlin's  administration,  the  Legislature  also  de- 
clared that  he  had  no  authority  to  appoint  a  Secretary 
of  State  until  a  vacancy  existed,  and  A.  P.  Field,  a 
Whig,  who  had  already  held  the  post  by  appointment 
Jirough  three  administrations,  was  determined  to 
keep  the  place  a  while  longer,  in  spite  of  Gov.  Car- 
lin's preferences.  The  course  of  the  Legislature  in 
this  regard,  however,  was  finally  sustained  by  the 
Supreme  Court,  in  a  quo  warranto  ease  brought  up 
before  it  by  John  A.  McClernand,  whom  the  Gov- 
ernor had  nominated  for  the  office.  Thereupon  that 
dignified  body  was  denounced  as  a  "Whig  Court!" 
endeavoring  to  establish  the  principle  of  life-tenure 
of  office. 

A  new  law  was  adopted  re-organizing  the  Judici- 
ary, and  under  it  five  additional  Supreme  Judges 
were  elected  by  the  Legislature,  namely,  Thomas 
Ford  (afterward  Governor),  Sidney  Breese,  Walter  B. 
Scales,  Samuel  H.  Treat  and  Stephen  A.  Douglas- 
all  Democrats. 

It  was  during  Cov.  Carlin's  administration  that  the 
noisy  campaign  of  "Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  too  "  oc- 
curred, resulting  in  a  Whig  victory.  This,  however, 
did  net  affect  Illinois  politics  very  seriously. 

Another  prominent  event  in  the  West  during  Gov. 
Carlin's  term  of  office  was  the  excitement  caused  by 
the  Mcrmons  and  their  removal  from  Independence, 
Mo.,  to  Nauvoo,  111.,  in  1840.  At  the  same  time 
they  began  to  figure  somewhat  in  State  polirics.  On 
account  of  their  believing — as  they  thought,  accord- 
ing to  the  New  Testament — that  they  should  have 


"  all  things  common,"  and  that  consequently  "  all 
the  earth  "  and  all  that  is  upon  it  were  the"  Lord's  " 
and  therefore  the  property  of  his  "  saints,"  they 
were  suspected,  and  correctly,  too,  of  committing 
many  of  the  deeds  of  larceny,  robbery,  etc.,  that 
were  so  rife  throughout  this  country  in  those  days. 
Hence  a  feeling  of  violence  grew  up  between  the 
Mormons  and  "anti-Mormons."  In  the  State  of 
Missouri  the  Mormons  always  supported  the  Dem- 
ocracy until  they  were  driven  out  by  the  Democratic 
government,  when  they  turned  their  support  to  the 
Whigs.  They  were  becoming  numerous,  and  in  the 
Legislature  of  1840-1,  therefore,  it  became  a  matter 
of  great  interest  with  both  parties  to  conciliate  these 
people.  Through  the  agency  of  one  John  C.  Ben- 
nett, a  scamp,  the  Mormons  succeeded  in  rushing 
through  the  Legislature  (both  parties  not  daring  to 
oppose)  a  charter  for  the  city  of  Nauvoo  which  vir- 
tually erected  a  hierarchy  co-ordinate  with  the  Fed- 
eral Government  itself.  In  the  fall  of  1841  the 
Governor  of  Missouri  made  a  demand  upon  Gov. 
Carlin  for  the  body  of  Joe  Smith,  the  Mormon  leader, 
as  a  fugitive  from  justice.  Gov.  Carlin  issued  tlvj 
writ,  but  for  some  reason  it  was  returned  unserved. 
It  was  again  issued  in  1842,  and  Smith  was  arrested, 
but  was  either  rescued  by  his  followers  or  discharged 
by  the  municipal  court  on  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus. 

In  December,  1841,  the  Democratic  Convention 
nominated  Adam  W.  Snyder,  of  Belleville,  for  Gov- 
ernor. As  he  had  been,  as  a  member  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, rather  friendly  to  the  Mormons,  the  latter 
naturally  turned  their  support  to  the  Democratic 
party.  The  next  spring  the  Whigs  nominated  Ex- 
Gov.  Duncan  for  the  same  office.  In  the  meantime 
the  Mormons  began  to  grow  more  odious  to  the 
masses  of  the  people,  and  the  comparative  prospects 
of  the  respective  parties  for  success  became  very 
problematical.  Mr.  Snyder  died  in  May,  and 
Thomas  Ford,  a  Supreme  Judge,  was  substituted  as 
a  candidate,  and  was  elected. 

At  the  close  of  his  gubernatorial  term,  Mr.  Carlin 
removed  back  to  his  old  home  at  Carrollton,  where 
he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life,  i.z  before  his  ele- 
vation to  office,  in  agricultural  pursuits.  In  18/^9 
he  served  out  the  unexpired  term  of  J.  D.  Fry  in  the 
Illinois  House  of  Representatives,  and  died  Feb.  4, 
1852,  at  his  residence  at  Carrollton,  leaving  a  wife 
and  seven  children. 


•f  the 
of  Hfk*. 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


139 


HOMAS  FORD,  Governor 
from  1842  to  1846,  and  au- 
thor of  a  very  interesting 
history  of  Illinois,  was  born 
at  Uniontown,  Pa.,  in  the 
year  1 800.  His  mother,  after 
the  death  of  her  first  hus- 
band (Mr.  Forquer),  married  Rob- 
ert Ford,  who  was  killed  in  1802, 
by  the  Indians  in  the  mountains 
of  Pennsylvania.  She  was  conse- 
quently left  in  indigent  circum- 
stances, with  a  large  family,  mostly 
girls.  With  a  view  to  better  her 
condition,  she,  in  1804,  removed  to 
Missouri,  where  it  had  been  cus- 
tomary by  the  Spanish  Govern- 
ment to  give  land  to  actual  settlers ;  but  upon  her 
arrival  at  St.  Louis  she  found  the  country  ceded  to 
the  United  States,  and  the  liberal  policy  toward  set- 
tlers changed  by  the  new  ownership.  After  some 
sickness  to  herself  and  family,  she  finally  removed  to 
Illinois,  and  settled  some  three  miles  south  of  Water- 
loo, but  the  following  year  moved  nearer  the  Missis- 
sippi bluffs.  Here  young  Ford  received  his  first  )' 


schooling,  under  the  instructions  of  a  M*.  Humphrey, 
for  which  he  had  to  walk  three  miles.  His  mother, 
though  lacking  a  thorough  education,  was  a  woman 
of  superior  mental  endowments,  joined  to  energy, 
and  determination  of  character.  She  inculcated  in 
her  children  those  high-toned  principles  which  dis- 
tinguished her  sons  in  public  life.  She  exercised  a 
rigid  economy  to  provide  her  children  an  education ; 
but  George  Forquer,  her  oldest  son  (six  years  older 
than  Thomas  Ford),  at  an  early  age  had  to  quit 
school  to  aid  by  his  labor  in  the  support  of  the  family. 
He  afterward  became  an  eminent  man  in  Illinois 
affairs,  and  but  for  his  early  death  would  probably 
have  been  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate. 

Young  Ford,  with  somewhat  better  opportunities, 
received  a  better  education,  though  limited  to  the 
curriculum  of  the  common  school  of  those  pioneer 
times.  His  mind  gave  early  promise  of  superior  en- 
dowments, with  an  inclination  for  mathematics.  His 
proficiency  attracted  the  attention  of  Hon.  Daniel  P. 
Cook,  who  became  his  efficient  patron  and  friend, 
The  latter  gentleman  was  an  eminent  Illinois  states- 
man who,  as  a  Member  of  Congress,  oDtamedagrant 
of  300,000  acres  of  land  to  aid  in  completing  the 
Illinois  &  Michigan  Canal,  and  after  whom  the 
county  of  Cook  was  named.  Through  the  advice  of 


THOMAS  FORD. 


this  gentleman,  Mr.  Ford  turned  his  attention  to  the 
study  of  law;  but  Forquer,  then  merchandising,  re- 
garding his  education  defective,  sent  him  to  Transyl- 
vania University,  where,  however,  he  remained  but 
one  term,  owing  to  Forquer's  failure  in  business.  On 
his  return  he  alternated  his  law  reading  with  teach- 
ir.g  school  for  supix>rt. 

In  1829  Gov.  Edwards  appointed  him  Prosecuting 
Attorney,  and  in  1831  he  was  re-appointed  by  Gov. 
Reynolds,  and  after  that  he  was  four  times  elected  a 
Judge  by  the  Legislature,  without  opposition,  twice  a 
Circuit  Judge,  once  a  Judge  of  Chicago,  and  as  As- 
sociate Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  when,  in  1841, 
the  latter  tribunal  was  re-organized  by  the  addition 
of  five  Judges,  all  Democrats.  Ford  was  assigned  to 
the  Ninth  Judicial  Circuit,  and  while  in  this  capacity 
he  was  holding  Court  in  Ogle  County  he  received  a 
notice  of  his  nomination  by  the  Democratic  Conven- 
tion for  the  office  of  Governor.  He  immediately  re- 
signed his  place  and  entered  upon  the  canvass.  In 
August,  1842,  he  was  elected,  and  on  the  8th  of  De- 
cember following  he  was  inaugurated. 

All  the  offices  which  he  had  held  were  unsolicited 
by  him.  He  received  them  upon  the  true  Jefferson- 
ian  principle, — Never  to  ask  and  never  to  refuse 
office.  Both  as  a  lawyer  and  as  a  Judge  he  stood 
deservedly  high,  but  his  caU  of  intellect  fitted  him 
rather  for  a  writer  upon  law  than  a  practicing  advo- 
cate in  the  courts.  In  the  latter  capacity  he  was  void 
of  the  moving  power  of  eloquence,  so  necessary  to 
success  with  juries.  As  a  Judge  his  opinions  were 
"jound,  lucid  and  able  expositions  of  the  law.  In 
practice,  he  was  a  stranger  to  the  tact,  skill  and  in- 
sinuating address  of  the  politician,  but  he  saw  through 
:he  arts  of  demagogues  as  will  as  any  man  He  was 
plain  in  his  demeanor,  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  at 
one  time  after  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office, 
during  a  session  of  the  Legislature,  he  was  taken  by 
a  stranger  to  be  a  seeker  for  the  position  of  door- 
keeper, and  was  waked  upon  at  his  hotel  near  mid- 
night by  a  knot  of  small  office-seekers  with  the  view 
of  effecting  a  "  combination  !  " 

Mr.  Ford  had  not  the  "  brass  "  cf  the  ordinary 
politician,  nor  that  impetuosity  which  characterizes  a 
political  leader.  He  cared  little  for  money,  and 
hardly  enough  for  a  decent  support.  In  person  he 
was  of  small  stature,  slender,  of  dark  complexion, 
with  black  hair,  sharp  features,  deep-set  eyes,  a 
pointed,  aquiline  nose  having  a  decided  twist  to  one 
side,  and  a  small  mouth. 

The  three  most  important  events  in  Gov.  Ford's 
r.dir.inistration  were  the  establishment  of  the  high 
financial  credit  of  the  State,  the  "  Mormon  War  "and 
the  Mexican  War. 

In  the  first  of  these  the  Governor  proved  himself 
to  be  eminently  wise.  On  coming  into  office  he  found 
the  State  badly  paralyzed  by  the  ruinous  effects  of 
the  notorious  "internal  improvement"  schemes  of 


the  preceding  decade,  with  scarcely  anythi,:.;  {•-. 
show  by  way  of  "improvement."  The  enterprise 
that  seemed  to  be  getting  ahead  more  than  all  the 
rest  was  the  Illinois  &  Michigan  Canal.  As  ilvis 
promised  to  be  the  most  important  thoroughfare, 
feasible  to  the  people,  it  was  well  under  headway  in 
its  construction.  Therefore  the  State  policy  wa; 
almost  concentrated  upon  it,  in  order  to  rush  it  on  te 
completion.  The  bonded  indebtedness  of  the  State 
was  growing  so  large  as  to  frighten  the  people,  and 
they  were  about  ready  to  entertain  a  proposition  for 
repudiation.  But  the  Governor  had  the  foresight  to 
recommend  such  measures  as  would  maintain  the 
public  credit,  for  which  every  citizen  to-day  feels 
thankful. 

But  perhaps  the  Governor  is  remembered  more  for 
his  connection  with  the  Mormon  troubles  than  for 
anything  else;  for  it  was  during  his  term  of  office 
that  the  "  Latter-Day  Saints  "  becam?  so  strong  at 
Nauvoo,  built  their  temple  there,  increased  their  num- 
bers throughout  the  count-y,  committed  misdemean- 
ors, taught  dangerous  doctrines,  suffered  the  loss  of 
theirleader,  Jo  Smith,  by  a  violent  death,  were  driven 
out  of  Nauvoo  to  the  far  West,  etc.  Having  been  a 
Judge  for  so  many  years  previously,  Mr.  Ford  of 
course  was  non-committal  concerning  Mormon  affairs, 
and  was  therefore  claimed  by  both  parties  and  also 
accused  by  each  of  sympathizing  too  greatly  with  the 
other  side.  Mormonism  claim! ag  to  be  a  system  of 
religion,  the  Governor  no  doubt  was  ".between  two 
fires,"  and  felt  compelled  to  touch  the  matter  rather 
"  gingerly,"  and  doubtless  felt  greatly  relieved  when 
th.it  pestilential  people  left  the  State.  Such  compli- 
cated matters,  especially  when  religion  is  mixed  up 
with  them,  expose  every  person  participating  in 
them  to  criticism  from  all  parties. 

The  Mexican  War  was  begun  in  the  spring  of 
1845,  and  was  continued  into  the  gubernatorial  term 
of  Mr.  Ford's  su.cessor.  The  Governor's  connection 
with  this  war,  however,  was  not  conspicuous,  as  it 
was  only  administrative,  commissioning  officers,  etc. 

Ford's  "  History  of  Illinois  "  is  a  vay  readable  and 
entertaining  work,  of  450  small  octavo  pages,  and  is 
destined  to  increase  in  value  with  the  lapse  of  time. 
It  exhibits  a  natural  flow  of  compact  and  forcible 
thought,  never  failing  to  convey  the  nicest  sense.  In 
tracing  with  his  trenchant  pen  the  deviousoperations 
of  the  professional  politician,  in  which  he  is  inimit- 
able, his  account  is  open,  perhaps,  to  the  objection 
that  all  his  contemporaries  are  treated  as  mere  place- 
seekers,  while  many  of  them  have  since  been  judged 
by  the  people  to  be  worthy  statesmen.  His  writings 
seem  slightly  open  to  the  criticism  that  they  exhibit 
a  little  splenetic  partiality  against  those  of  his  con- 
temporaries who  were  prominent  during  his  term  of 
office  as  Governor. 

The  death  of  Gov.  Ford  took  place  at  Peoria,  111., 
Nov.  2,  1850. 


Ik«  Library 
•f  the 
of  Uth 


GO  VERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Augustus  c.  French. 


-K- 


:UGUSTUS  C.  FRENCH, 
Governor  of  Illinois  from 
1846  to  1852,  was  born  in 
the  town  of  Hill,  in  the 
State  of  New  Hampshire, 
Aug.  2,  1808.  He  was  a 
descendant  in  the  fourth 
generation  of  Nathaniel 
French,  who  emigrated  from  England 
in  1687  and  settled  in  Saybury,  Mass. 
In  early  life  young  French  lost  his 
father,  but  continued  to  receive  in- 
struction from  an  exemplary  and 
Christian  mother  until  he  was  19  years 
old,  when  she  also  died,  confiding  to 
his  care  and  trust  four  younger  broth- 
ers and  one  sister.  He  discharged  his  trust  with 
parental  devotion.  His  education  in  early  life  was 
such  mainly  as  a  common  school  afforded.  For  a 
brief  period  he  attended  Dartmouth  College,  but 
from  pecuniary  causes  and  the  care  of  his  brothers 
and  sister,  he  did  not  graduate.  He  subsequently 
read  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1831,  and 
shortly  afterward  removed  to  Illinois,  settling  first  at 
Albion,  Edwards  County,  where  he  established  him- 
self in  the  practice  of  law.  The  following  year  he 
removed  to  Paris,  Edgar  County.  Here  he  attained 
eminence  in  his  profession,  and  entered  public  life 
by  representing  that  county  in  the  Legislature.  A 
strong  attachment  sprang  up  between  him  and  Ste- 
phen A.  Douglas. 

In  1839,  Mr.  French  was  appointed  Receiver  of 
the  United  States  Land  Office  at  Palestine,  Craw- 
ford County,  at  which  place  he  was  a  resident  when 


elevated  to  the  gubernatorial  chair.  In  1844  he  was 
a  Presidential  Elector,  and  as  such  he  voted  for 
James  K.  Polk. 

The  Democratic  State  Convention  of  1846,  meet- 
ing at  Springfield  Feb.  10,  nominated  Mr.  French 
for  Governor.  Other  Democratic  candidates  were 
Lyman  Trumbull,  John  Calhoun  (subsequently  of 
Lecompton  Constitution  notoriety),  Walter  B.  Scales. 
Richard  M.  Young  and  A.  W.  Cavarly, — an  array  of 
very  able  and  prominent  names.  Trumbull  was  per- 
haps defeated  in  the  Convention  by  the  rumor  that 
he  was  opposed  to  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal, 
as  he  had  been  a  year  previously.  For  Lieutenant 
Governor  J.  B.  Wells  was  chosen,  while  other  candi- 
dates were  Lewis  Ross,  Wrn.  McMurtry,  Newton 
Cloud,  J.  B.  Hamilton  and  W.  W.  Thompson.  The 
resolutions  declared  strongly  against  the  resuscita- 
tion of  the  old  State  Banks. 

The  Whigs,  who  were  in  a  hopeless  minority,  held 
their  convention  June  8,  at  Peoria,  and  selected 
Thomas  M.  Kilpatrick,  of  Scott  County,  for  Governor, 
and  Gen.  Nathaniel  G.  Wilcox,  of  Schuyler,  for 
Lieutenant  Governor. 

In  the  campaign  the  latter  exposed  Mr.  French's 
record  and  connection  with  the  passage  of  the  in- 
ternal improvement  system,  urging  it  against  his 
election ;  but  in  the  meantime  the  war  with  Mexico 
broke  out,  regarding  which  the  Whig  record  was  un- 
popular in  this  State.  The  war  was  the  absorbing 
and  dominating  question  of  the  period,  sweeping 
every  other  political  issue  in  its  course.  The  elec- 
tion in  August  gave  Mr.  French  58,700  votes,  and 
Kilpatrick  only  36,775.  Richard  Eells,  Abolitionist 
candidate  for  the  same  office,  received  5,152  votws. 


AUGUSTUS  C.  FRENCH. 


By  the  new  Constitution  of  1848,  a  new  election  for 
State  officers  was  ordered  in  November  of  that  year, 
before  Gov.  French's  term  was  half  out,  and  he  was 
re-elected  for  the  term  of  four  years.  He  was  there- 
fore the  incumbe.it  for  six  consecutive  years,  the 
only  Governor  of  this  State  who  has  ever  served  in 
that  capacity  so  long  at  one  time.  As  there  was  no 
organized  opposition  to  his  election,  he  received  67,- 
453  votes,  to  5,639  for  Pierre  Menard  (son  of  the 
first  Lieutenant  Governor),  4,748  for  Charles  V. 
Dyer,  3,834  for  W.  L.  D.  Morrison,  and  1,361  for 
James  L.  D.  Morrison.  But  Wm.  McMurtry,  of 
Knox  County,  was  elected  Lieutenant  Governor,  in 
place  of  Joseph  B.  Wells,  who  was  before  elected 
and  did  not  run  again. 

Governor  French  was  inaugurated  into  office  dur- 
ing the  progress  of  the  Mexican  War,  which  closed 
during  the  summer  of  1847,  although  the  treaty  of 
Guadalupe  Hidalgo  was  not  made  until  Feb.  2, 
1848.  The  policy  of  Gov.  French's  party  was  com- 
mitted to  that  war,  but  in  connection  with  that  affair 
he  was,  of  course,  only  an  administrative  officer. 
During  his  term  of  office,  Feb.  19,  1847,  the  Legisla- 
ture, by  special  permission  of  Congress,  declared  that 
all  Government  lands  sold  to  settlers  should  be  im- 
mediately subject  to  State  taxation;  before  this  they 
were  exempt  for  five  years  after  sale.  By  this  ar- 
rangement the  revenue  was  materially  increased. 
About  the  same  time,  the  distribution  of  Government 
-and  warrants  among  the  Mexican  soldiers  as  bounty 
threw  upon  the  market  a  great  quantity  of  good 
lands,  and  this  enhanced  the  settlement  of  the  State. 
The  same  Legislature  authorized,  with  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  Governor,  the  sale  of  the  Northern 
Cross  Railroad  (from  Springfield  to  Meredosia,  the 
first  in  the  State  and  now  a  section  of  the  Wabash, 
St.  Louis  &  Pacific).  It  sold  for  $100,000  in  bonds, 
although  it  had  cost  the  State  not  less  than  a  million. 
The  salt  wells  and  canal  lands  in  the  Saline  reserve 
in  Gallatin  County,  granted  by  the  general  Govern- 
ment to  the  State,  were  also  authorized  by  the 
Governor  to  be  sold,  to  apply  on  the  State  debt.  In 
1850,  for  the  first  time  since  1839,  the  accruing  State 
revenue,  exclusive  of  specific  appropriations,  was 
sufficient  to  meet  the  current  demands  upon  the 
treasury.  The  aggregate  taxable  property  of  the 
State  at  this  time  was  over  $100,000,000,  and  tha 
population  851470. 


In  1849  the  Legislature  adopted  the  township  or- 
ganization law,  which,  however,  proved  defective, 
and  was  properly  amended  in  1851.  At  its  session 
in  the  latter  year,  the  General  Assembly  also  passed 
a  law  to  exempt  homesteads  from  sale  on  executions 
This  beneficent  measure  had  been  repeatedly  arge<J 
upon  that  body  by  Gov.  French. 

In  1850  some  business  men  in  St.  Louis  com- 
menced to  build  a  dike  opposite  the  lower  part  of 
their  city  on  the  Illinois  side,  to  keep  the  Mississippi 
in  its  channel  near  St.  Louis,  instead  of  breaking 
away  from  them  as  it  sometimes  threatened  to  do. 
This  they  undertook  without  permission  from  the 
Legislature  or  Executive  authority  of  this  State  ;  and 
as  many  of  the  inhabitants  there  complained  that 
the  scheme  would  inundate  and  ruin  much  valuable 
land,  there  was  a  slight  conflict  of  jurisdictions,  re- 
sulting in  favor  of  the  St.  Louis  project ;  r.nd  since 
then  a  good  site  has  existed  there  for  a  city  (East  St. 
Louis),  and  now  a  score  of  railroads  center  there. 

It  was  in  September,  1850,  that  Congress  granted 
to  this  State  nearly  3,000,000  acres  of  land  in  aid  of 
the  completion  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad, 
which  constituted  the  most  important  epoch  in  the 
railroad — we  might  say  internal  improvement — his- 
tory of  the  State.  The  road  was  rushed  on  to  com- 
pletion, which  accelerated  the  settlement  of  the  in- 
terior of  the  State  by  a  good  class  of  industrious  citi- 
zens, and  by  the  charter  a.  good  income  to  the  State 
Treasury  is  paid  in  from  the  earnings  of  the  road. 

In  1851  the  Legislature  passed  a  law  authorizing 
free  stock  banks,  which  was  the  source  of  much  leg- 
islative discussion  for  a  number  of  years. 

But  we  have  not  space  further  to  particularize 
concerning  legislation.  Gov.  French's  administra- 
tion was  not  marked  by  any  feature  to  be  criticised, 
while  the  country  was  settling  up  as  never  before. 

In  stature,  Gov.  French  was  of  medium  height, 
squarely  built,  light  complexioned,  with  ruddy  face 
and  pleasant  countenance.  In  manners  he  was 
plain  and  agreeable.  By  nature  he  was  somewhat 
diffident,  but  he  was  often  very  outspoken  in  his  con- 
victions of  duty.  In  public  speech  he  was  not  an 
orator,  but  was  chaste,  earnest  and  persuasive.  In 
business  he  was  accurate  and  methodical,  and  in  his 
administration  he  kept  up  the  credit  of  the  State. 

He  died  in  1865,  at  his  home  in  Lebanon,  St 
Clair  Co.,  HI. 


fc  Llfcf.r, 

•f  the 

Of    Ilitr,;,.. 


GO  VERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


j:OEL  A.  MATTESON,  Governor 
1 85  3-6,  was  born  Aug.  8,  1808, 
in  Jefferson  County,  New  York, 
to  which  place  his  father  had  re- 
moved from  Vermont  three  years 
before.  His  father  was  a  farmer 
in  fair  circumstances,  but  a  com- 
mon English  education  was  all 
that  his  only  son  received.  Young 
Joel  first  tempted  fortune  as  a 
small  tradesman  in  Prescott, 
Canada,  before  he  was  of  age. 
He  returned  from  that  place  to 
his  home,  entered  an  academy, 
taught  school,  visited  the  prin- 
cipal Eastern  cities,  improved  a  farm  his  father  had 
given  him,  made  a  tour  in  the  South,  worked  there 
in  building  railroads,  experienced  a  storm  on  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  visited  the  gold  diggings  of  Northern 
Georgia,  and  returned  via  Nashville  to  St.  Louis  and 
through  Illinois  to  his  father's  home,  when  he  mar- 
ried. In  1833,  having  sold  his  farm,  he  removed, 
with  his  wife  and  one  child,  to  Illinois,  and  entered 
a  claim  on  Government  land  near  the  head  of  Au 
Sable  River,  in  what  is  now  Kendall  County.  At 
that  time  there  were  not  more  than  two  neighbors 
within  a  range  of  ten  miles  of  liis  place,  and  only 
three  or  four  house;  between  him  and  Chicago.  He 
opened  a  large  farm.  His  family  was  boarded  12 


miles  away  while  he  erected  a  house  on  his  claim, 
sleeping,  during  this  time,  under  a  rude  pole  shed. 
Here  his  life  was  once  placed  in  imminent  peril  by 
a  huge  prairie  rattlesnake  sharing  his  bed. 

In  1835  he  bought  largely  at  the  Government  land 
sales.  During  the  speculative  real-estate  mania  which 
broke  out  in  Chicago  in  1836  and  spread  over  the  State, 
he  sold  his  lands  under  the  inflation  of  that  period 
and  removed  to  Joliet.  In  1838  he  became  a  heavy 
contractor  on  the  Illinois  &  Michigan  Canal.  Upon 
the  completion  of  his  job  in  1841,  when  hard  times 
prevailed,  business  at  a  stand,  contracts  paid  in  State 
scrip;  when  all  the  public  works  except  the  canal 
were  abandoned,  the  State  offered  for  sale  700  tons 
of  railroad  iron,  which  was  purchased  by  Mr.  Mat- 
teson  at  a  bargain.  This  he  accepted,  shipped  and 
sold  at  Detroit,  realizing  a  very  handsome  profit, 
enough  to  pay  off  all  his  canal  debts  and  leave  him  a 
surplus  of  several  thousand  dollars.  His  enterprise 
next  prompted  him  to  start  a  woolen  mill  at  Joliet, 
in  which  he  prospered,  and  which,  after  successive 
enlargements,  became  an  enormous  establishment. 

In  1842  he  was  first  elected  a  State  Senator,  but, 
by  a  bungling  apportionment,  j'c'in  Pearson,  a  Senator 
holding  over,  was  found  to  be  in  the  same  district, 
and  decided  to  be  entitled  to  represent  it.  Mat- 
teson's  seat  was  declared  vacant.  Pearson,  however 
with  a  nobleness  difficult  to  appreciate  in  this  day  of 


i48 


JOEL  A.  MATTESON. 


greed  for  office,  unwilling  to  represent  his  district 
under  the  circumstances,  immediately  resigned  his 
unexpired  term  of  two  years.  A  bill  was  passed  in  a 
few  hours  ordering  a  new  election,  and  in  ten  days' 
time  Mr.  Matteson  was  returned  re-elected  and  took 
his  seat  as  Senator.  From  his  well-known  capacity 
as  a  business  man,  he  was  made  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Finance,  a  position  he  held  during 
this  half  and  two  full  succeeding  Senatorial  terms, 
discharging  its  important  duties  with  ability  and  faith- 
fulness. Besides  his  extensive  woolen-mill  interest, 
when  work  was  resumed  on  the  canal  under  the  new 
ioan  of  $1,600,000  he  again  became  a  heavy  con- 
tractor, and  also  subsequently  operated  largely  in 
building  railroads.  Thus  he  showed  himself  a  most 
energetic  and  thorough  business  man. 

He  was  nominated  for  Governor  by  the  Demo- 
cratic State  Convention  which  met  at  Springfield 
April  20,  1852.  Other  candidates  before  the  Con- 
vention were  D.  L.  Gregg  and  F.  C.  Sherman,  of 
Cook ;  John  Dement,  of  Lee  ;  Thomas  L.  Harris,  of 
Menard;  Lewis  W.  Ross, of  Fulton;  and  D.  P.  Bush, 
of  Pike.  Gustavus  Koerner,  of  St.  Clair,  was  nom- 
inated for  Lieutenant  Governor.  For  the  same  offices 
the  Whigs  nominated  Edwin  B.  Webb  and  Dexter  A. 
Knowlton.  Mr.  Matteson  received  80,645  votes  at 
the  election,  while  Mr.  Webb  received  64,408.  Mat- 
teson's  forte  was  not  on  the  stump;  he  had  not  cul- 
tivated the  art  of  oily  flattery,  or  the  faculty  of  being 
all  things  to  all  men.  His  intellectual  qualities  took 
rather  the  direction  of  efficient  executive  ability.  His 
turn  consisted  not  so  much  in  the  adroit  manage- 
ment of  party,  or  the  powerful  advocacy  of  great  gov- 
ernmental principles,  as  in  those  more  solid  and 
enduring  operations  which  cause  the  physical  devel- 
opment and  advancement  of  a  State, — of  commerce 
and  business  enterprise,  into  which  he  labored  with 
success  to  lead  the  people.  As  a  politician  he  was 
just  and  liberal  in  his  views,  and  both  in  official  and 
private  life  he  then  stood  untainted  and  free  from 
blemish.  As  a  man,  in  active  benevolence,  social 
rirtues  and  all  the  amiable  qualities  of  neighbor  or 
citizen,  he  had  few  superiors.  His  messages  present 
a  perspicuous  array  of  facts  as  to  the  condition  of  the 
State,  and  are  often  couched  in  forcible  and  elegant 
diction. 

The  greatest  excitement  during  his  term  of  office 
was  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  by  Con- 


gress, under  the  leadership  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas  in 
1854,  when  the  bill  was  passed  organizing  the  Terri- 
tory of  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  A  large  portion  of 
the  Whig  party  of  the  North,  through  their  bitter  op- 
position to  the  Democratic  party,  naturally  drifted 
into  the  doctrine  of  anti-slavery,  and  thus  led  to  what 
was  temporarily  called  the  "  And- Nebraska  "  party, 
while  the  followers  of  Douglas  were  known  as  "  Ne- 
braska or  Douglas  Democrats."  It  was  during  this 
embryo  stage  of  the  Republican  party  that  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  brought  forward  as  the  "Anti-Nebraska" 
candidate  for  the  United  States  Senatorship,  while 
Gen.  James  Shields,  the  incumbent,  was  re-nom- 
inated by  the  Democrats.  But  after  a  fewballotings 
in  the  Legislature  (1855),  these  men  were  dropped, 
and  Lyman  Trumbull,  an  Anti-Nebraska  Democrat, 
was  brought  up  by  the  former,  and  Mr.  Matteson, 
then  Governor,  by  the  latter.  On  the  nth  ballot 
Mr.  Trumbull  obtained  one  majority,  and  was  ac- 
cordingly declared  elected.  Before  Gov.  Matteson  s 
term  expired,  the  Republicans  were  fully  organized 
as  a  national  party,  and  in  1856  put  into  the  field  a 
full  national  and  State  ticket,  carrying  the  State,  but 
not  the  nation. 

The  Legislature  of  1855  passed  two  very  import- 
ant measures, — the  present  free-school  system  and  a 
submission  of  the  Maine  liquor  law  to  a  vote  of  the 
people.  The  latter  was  defeated  by  a  small  majority 
of  the  popular  vote. 

During  the  four  years  of  Gov.  Matteson  s  admin- 
istration the  taxable  wealth  of  the  State  was  about 
trebled,  from  $137,818.07910  $349,951,272;  the  pub- 
lic debt  was  reduced  from  $17,398,985  to  $12,843,- 
T44;  taxation  was  at  the  same  time  reduced,  and  the 
State  resumed  paying  interest  on  its  debt  in  New 
York  as  fast  as  it  fell  due ;  railroads  were  increased 
in  their  mileage  from  something  less  than  400  to 
about  3.000 ;  and  the  population  of  Chicago  was 
nearly  doubled,  and  its  commerce  more  than  quad- 
rupled. 

Before  closing  this  account,  we  regret  that  we  have 
to  say  that  Mr.  Matteson,  in  all  other  respects  an 
upright  man  and  a  good  Governor,  was  implicated 
in  a  false  re-issue  of  redeemed  canai  scrip,  amount- 
ing to  $224,182.66.  By  a  suit  in  the  Sangamon  Cir- 
cuit Court  the  State  recovered  the  principal  and  a.11 
the  interest  excepting  $27,500. 

He  died  in   the  winter  of  1872-3,  at  Chicago. 


•f  the 


GO  VEKNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


ILLIAM  H.  BISSELL,  Gov- 
ernor 1857-60,  was  born 
April  25,  i8n,  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  near 
Painted  Post,  Yates  County. 
His  parents  were  obscure, 
honest,  God-fearing  people, 
who  reared  their  children  under  the  daily 
example  of  industry  and  frugality,  accord- 
ing to  the  custom  of  that  class  of  Eastern 
:iety.  Mr.  Bissell  received  a  respecta- 
ble but  not  thorough  academical  education. 
By  assiduous  application  he  acquired  a 
knowledge  of  medicine,  and  in  his  early 
manhood  came  West  and  located  in  Mon- 
roe County,  this  State,  where  he  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  that  profession.  But  he  was  not  enam- 
ored of  his  calling:  he  was  swayed  by  a  broader 
ambition,  to  such  an  extent  that  the  mysteries  of  the 
healing  art  and  its  arduous  duties  failed  to  yield  him 
further  any  charms.  In  a  few  years  he  discovered 
liis  choice  of  a  profession  to  be  a  mistake,  and  when 
he  approached  the  age  of  30  he  sought  to  begin 
anew.  Dr.  Bissell,  no  doubt  unexpectedly  to  him- 
self, discovered  a  singular  facility  and  charm  of 
speech,  the  exercise  of  which  acquired  for  him  a 
ready  local  notoriety.  It  soon  came  to  be  under- 


stood that  he  desired  to  abandon  his  profession  and 
take  up  that  of  the  law.  During  terms  of  Court  he 
would  spend  his  time  at  the  county  seat  among  the 
members  of  the  Bar,  who  extended  to  him  a  ready 
welcome. 

It  was  not  strange,  therefore,  that  he  should  drift 
into  public  life.  In  1840  he  was  elected  as  a  Dem- 
ocrat to  the  Legislature  from  Monroe  County,  and 
was  an  efficient  member  of  that  body.  On  his  re- 
turn home  he  qualified  himself  for  admission  to  the 
Bar  and  speedily  rose  to  the  front  rank  as  an  advo- 
cate. His  powers  of  oratory  were  captivating.  With  a 
pure  diction,  charming  and  inimitable  gestures, 
clearness  of  statement,  and  a  remarkable  vein  of  sly 
humor,  his  efforts  before  a  jury  told  with  irresistible 
effect.  He  was  chosen  by  the  Legislature  Prosecut- 
ing Attorney  for  the  Circuit  in  which  he  lived,  and 
in  that  position  he  fully  discharged  his  duty  to  the 
State,  gained  the  esteem  of  the  Bar,  and  seldom 
failed  to  convict  the  offender  of  the  law. 

In  stature  he  was  somewhat  tall  and  slender,  and 
with  a  straight,  military  bearing,  he  presented  a  dis- 
tinguished appearance.  His  complexion  was  dark, 
his  head  well  poised,  though  not  large,  his  address 
pleasant  and  manner  winning.  He  was  exemplary 
in  his  habits,  a  devoted  husband  and  kind  parent. 
He  was  twice  married,  the  first  time  to  Miss  James, 


'5* 


WILLIAM  H.  BISSELL. 


of  Monroe  County,  by  whom  he  bad  two  children, 
both  daughters.  She  died  soon  after  the  year  1840, 
and  Mr.  B.  married  for  his  second  wife  a  daughter 
of  Elias  K.  Kane,  previously  a  United  States  Senator 
from  this  State.  She  survived  him  but  a  short  time, 
and  died  without  issue. 

When  the  war  with  Mexico  was  declared  in  1846, 
Mr.  Bissell  enlisted  and  was  elected  Colonel  of  his 
regiment,  over  Hon.  Don  Morrison,  by  an  almost 
unanimous  vote, — 807  to  6.  Considering  the  limited 
opportunities  he  had  had,  he  evinced  a  high  order  of 
military  talent.  On  the  bloody  field  of  Buena  Vista 
he  acquitted  himself  with  intrepid  and  distinguished 
ability,  contributing  with  his  regiment,  the  Second 
Illinois,  in  no  small  degree  toward  saving  the  waver- 
ing fortunes  of  our  arms  during  that  long  and  fiercely 
contested  battle. 

After  his  return  home,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  he 
was  elected  to  Congress,  his  opponents  being  the 
Hons.  P.  B.'Fouke  and  Joseph  Gillespie.  He  served 
two  terms  in  Congress.  He  was  an  ardent  politician. 
During  the  great  contest  of  1850  he  voted  in  favor 
of  the  adjustment  measures;  but  in  1854  he  opposed 
the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  act  and 
therefore  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  of  Douglas,  and 
thus  became  identified  with  the  nascent  Republican 
party. 

During  his  first  Congressional  term,  while  the 
Southern  members  were  following  their  old  practice 
of  intimidating  the  North  by  bullying  language, 
and  claiming  most  of  the  credit  for  victories  in  the 
Mexican  War,  and  Jefferson  Davis  claiming  for  the 
Mississippi  troops  all  the  credit  for  success  at  Buena 
Vista,  Mr.  Bissell  bravely  defended  the  Northern 
troops;  whereupon  Davis  challenged  Bissell  to  a  duel, 
which  was  accepted.  This  matter  was  brought  up 
against  Bissell  when  he  was  candidate  for  Governor 
and  during  his  term  of  office,  as  the  Constitution  of 
this  State  forbade  any  duelist  from  holding  a  State 
office. 

In  1856,  when  the  Republican  party  first  put  forth 
a  candidate,  John  C.  Fremont,  for  President  of  the 
United  States,  the  same  party  nominated  Mr.  Bissell 
for  Governor  of  Illinois,  and  John  Wood,  of  Quincy, 
for  Lieutenant  Governor,  while  the  Democrats  nomi- 
nated Hon.  W.  A.  Richardson,  of  Adams  County, 
for  Governor,  and  Col.  R.  J.  Hamilton,  of  Cook 
County,  for  Lieutenant  Governor.  The  result  of  the 


election  was  a  plurality  of  4,729  votes  over  Richard- 
son. The  American,  or  Know-Nothing,  party  had  a 
ticket  in  the  field.  The  Legislature  was  nearly  bal- 
anced, but  was  politically  opposed  to  the  Governor. 
His  message  to  the  Legislature  was  short  and  rather 
ordinary,  and  was  criticised  for  expressing  the  sup- 
posed obligations  of  the  people  to  the  incorporators 
of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company  and  for  re- 
opening the  slavery  question  by  allusions  to  the 
Kansas  troubles.  Late  in  the  session  an  apportion- 
ment bill,  based  upon  the  State  census  of  1855,  was 
passed,  amid  much  partisan  strife.  The  Governor 
at  first  signed  the  bill  and  then  vetoed  it.  A  furious 
debate  followed,  and  the  question  whether  the  Gov- 
ernor had  the  authority  to  recall  a  signature  was 
referred  to  the  Courts,  that  of  last  resort  deciding  in 
favor  of  the  Governor.  Two  years  afterward  another 
outrageous  attempt  was  made  for  a  re-apportionment 
and  to  gerrymander  the  State,  but  the  Legislature 
failed  to  pass  the  bill  over  the  veto  of  the  Governor. 

It  was  during  Gov.  Bissell's  administration  that 
the  notorious  canal  scrip  fraud  was  brought  to  light; 
implicating  ex-Gov.  Matteson  and  other  prominent 
State  officials.  The  principal  and  interest,  aggregat- 
ing $255,500,  was  all  recovered  by  the  State  except- 
ing $27,500.  (See  sketch  of  Gov.  Matteson.) 

In  1859  an  attempt  was  discovered  to  fraudu- 
lently refund  the  Macalister  and  Stebbins  bonds  and 
thus  rob  the  State  Treasury  of  nearly  a  quarter  of  a 
million  dollars.  The  State  Government  was  impli- 
cated in  this  affair,  and  to  this  day  remains  unex- 
plained or  unatoned  for.  For  the  above,  and  other 
matters  previously  mentioned,  Gov.  Bissell  has  been 
severely  criticised,  and  he  has  also  been  most  shame- 
fully libelled  and  slandered. 

On  account  of  exposure  in  the  army,  the  remote 
cause  of  a  nervous  form  of  disease  gained  entrance 
into  his  system  and  eventually  developed  paraplegia, 
affecting  his  lower  extremities,  which,  while  it  left 
his  body  in  comparative  health,  deprived  him  of  loco- 
motion except  by  the  aid  of  crutches.  While  he  was 
generally  hopeful  of  ultimate  recovery,  this  myste- 
rious disease  pursued  him,  without  once  relaxing  its 
stealthy  hold,  to  the  close  of  his  life,  March  18, 
1860,  over  nine  months  before  the  expiration  of  his 
gubernatorial  term,  at  the  early  age  of  48  years.  He 
died  in  the  faith  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  of 
which  he  har\  been  a  member  since  1854. 


•f  the 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


'55 


HN  WOOD,  Governor  1860-1,  and 
the  first  settler  of  Quincy,  111., 
was  born  in  the  town  of  Sempro- 
nius  (now  Moravia),  Cayuga  Co., 
N.  Y.,  Dec.  20,  1798.  He  was 
the  second  child  and  only  son  of 
Dr.  Daniel  Wood.  His  mother, 
nee  Catherine  Crause,  was  of 
German  parentage,  and  died 
while  he  was  an  infant.  Dr. 
Wood  was  a  learned  and  skillful 
physician,  of  classical  attain- 
ments and  proficient  in  several 
modern  languages,  who,  after 
serving  throughout  the  Revolu- 
tionary War  as  a  Surgeon,  settled  on  the  land  granted 
him  by  the  Government,  and  resided  there  a  re- 
spected and  leading  influence  in  his  section  until  his 
death,  at  the  ripe  age  of  92  years. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch,  impelled  by  the  spirit 
of  Western  adventure  then  pervading  everywhere, 
left  his  home,  Nov.  2,  1818,  and  passed  the  succeed- 
ing winter  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  The  following  sum- 
mer he  pushed  on  to  Illinois,  landing  at  Shawneetown, 
and  spent  the  fall  and  following  winter  in  Calhoun 
County.  In  1820,  in  company  with  Willard  Keyes, 
he  settled  in  Pike  County,  about  30  miles  southeast 
of  Quincy,  where  for  the  next  two  years  he  pursued 
farming.  In  1821  he  visited  "the  Bluffs"  (as  the 
present  site  of  Quincy  was  called,  then  uninhabited) 
and,  pleased  with  its  prospects,  soon  after  purchased 
a  quarter-section  of  land  near  by,  and  in  the  follow- 
ing fall  (1822)  erected  near  the  river  a  small  cabin, 


1 8  x  20  feet,  the  first  building  in  Quincy,  of  which 
he  then  became  the  first  and  for  some  months  the 
only  occupant. 

About  this  time  he  visited  his  old  friends  in  Pike 
County,  chief  of  whom  was  William  Ross,  the  lead- 
ing man  in  building  up  the  village  of  Atlas,  of  that 
county,  which  was  thought  then  to  be  the  possible 
commencement  of  a  city.  One  day  they  and  others 
were  traveling  together  over  the  country  between  thq 
two  points  named,  making  observations  on  the  com- 
parative merits  of  the  respective  localities.  On  ap- 
proaching the  Mississippi  near  Mr.  Wood's  place, 
the  latter  told  his  companions  to  follow  him  and  he 
would  show  them  where  he  was  going  to  build  a  city. 
They  went  about  a  mile  off  the  main  trail,  to  a  high 
point,  from  which  the  view  in  every  direction  was 
most  magnificent,  as  it  had  been  for  ages  and  as  yet 
untouched  by  the  hand  of  man.  Before  them  swept 
by  the  majestic  Father  of  Waters,  yet  unburdened  by 
navigation.  After  Mr.  Wood  had  expatiated  at 
length  on  the  advantages  of  the  situation,  Mr.  Ross 
replied,  "  But  it's  too  near  Atlas  ever  to  amount  to 
anything!" 

Atlas  is  still  a  cultivated  farm,  and  Quincy  is  a 
city  of  over  30,000  population. 

In  1824  Mr.  Wood  gave  a  newspaper  notice, 
as  the  law  then  prescribed,  of  his  intention  to  apply 
to  the  General  Assembly  for  the  formation  of  a  new 
county.  This  was  done  the  following  winter,  result- 
ing in  the  establishment  of  the  present  Adams 
County.  During  the  next  summer  Quincy  was  se- 
lected as  the  county  seat,  it  and  the  vicinity  then 
containing  but  four  adult  male  residents  and  half 


JOHN  WOOD. 


that  number  of  females.  Sinoe  that  period  Mr. 
Wood  resided  at  the  place  of  his  early  adoption  un- 
til his  death,  and  far  more  than  any  other  man  was 
he  identified  with  every  measure  of  its  progress  and 
history,  and  almost  continuously  kept  in  public  posi- 
tions. 

He  was  one  of  the  early  town  Trustees,  and  after 
the  place  became  a  city  he  was  often  a  member  of 
the  City  Council,  many  times  elected  Mayor,  in  the 
face  of  a  constant  large  opposition  political  majority. 
In  1850  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate.  In  1856, 
on  the  organization  of  the  Republican  party,  he  was 
chosen  Lieutenant  Governor  of  the  State,  on  the 
ticket  with  Wm.  H.  Bissell  for  Governor,  and  on  the 
death  of  the  latter,  March  18,  1860,  he  succeeded  to 
the  Chief  Executive  chair,  which  he  occupied  until 
Gov.  Yates  was  inaugurated  neariy  ten  months  after- 
ward. 

Nothing  very  marked  characterized  the  adminis- 
tration of  Gov.  Wood.  The  great  anti-slavery  cam- 
paign of  1860,  resulting  in  the  election  of  the  honest 
Illinoisan,  Abraham  Lincoln,  to  the  Presidency  of  the 
United  States,  occurred  during  the  short  period 
while  Mr.  Wood  was  Governor,  and  the  excitement 
and  issues  of  that  struggle  dominated  over  every 
other  consideration, — indeed,  supplanted  them  in  a 
great  measure.  The  people  of  Illinois,  during  all 
that  time,  were  passing  the  comparatively  petty  strifes 
under  Bissell's  administration  to  the  overwhelming 
issue  of  preserving  the  whole  nation  from  destruction. 

In  1861  ex-Gov.  Wood  was  one  of  the  five  Dele- 
gates from  Illinois  to  the  "  Peace  Convention  "  at 
Washington,  and  in  April  of  the  same  year,  on  the 
breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion,  he  was  appointed 


Quartermaster-General  of  the  State,  which  position 
he  held  throughout  the  war.  In  1864  he  took  com- 
mand as  Colonel  of  the  i37th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  with 
whom  he  served  until  the  period  of  enlistment  ex- 
pired. 

Politically,  Gov.  Wood  was  always  actively  identi- 
fied with  the  Whig  and  Republican  parties.  Few 
men  have  in  personal  experience  comprehended  so 
many  surprising  and  advancing  local  changes  as 
vested  in  the  more  than  half  century  recollections  of 
Gov.  Wood.  Sixty-four  years  ago  a  solitary  settler 
on  the  "Bluffs,"  with  no  family,  and  no  neighbor 
within  a  score  of  miles,  the  world  of  civilization  away 
behind  him,  and  the  strolling  red-man .  almost  his 
only  visitant,  he  lived  to  see  growing  around  him, 
and  under  his  auspices  and  aid,  overspreading  the 
wild  hills  and  scraggy  forest  a  teaming  city,  second 
only  in  size  in  the  State,  and  surpassed  nowhere  in 
beauty,  prosperity  and  promise ;  whose  people  recog- 
nize as  with  a  single  voice  the  proverbial  honor  and 
liberality  that  attach  to  the  name  and  lengthened 
life  of  their  pioneer  settler,  "the  old  Governor." 

Gov.  Wood  was  twice  married, — first  in  January, 
1826,  to  Ann  M.  Streeter,  daughter  of  Joshua  Streeter, 
formerly  of  Salem,  Washington  Co.,  N.  Y.  They  had 
eight  children.  Mrs.  W.  died  Oct.  8,  1863,  and  in 
June,  1865,  Gov.  Wood  married  Mrs.  Mary  A.,  widow 
of  Rev.  Joseph  T.  Holmes.  Gov.  Wood  died  June  4, 
1880,  at  his  residence  in  Quincy.  Four  of  his  eight 
children  are  now  living,  namely:  Ann  E.,  wife  of 
Gen.  John  Tillson;  Daniel  C.,  who  married  Mary  J. 
Abernethy ;  John,  Jr.,  who  married  Josephine  Skinner, 
and  Joshua  S.,  who  married  Annie  Bradley.  The 
last  mentioned  now  resides  at  Atchison,  Kansas,  and 
all  the  rest  are  still  at  Quincy. 


of  the 

of  I 


ilCHARD  YATES,  the  "War  , 
Governor,"  1861-4,  was  born  j 
Jan.  18,  1818,  on  the  banks  of 
the  Ohio  River,  at  Warsaw, 
Gallatin  Co.,  Ky.  His  lather 
moved  in  i83T  to  Illinois,  and) 
after  stopping  for  a  time  in 
Springfield,  settled  at  .Island 
Grove,  Sangamon  County.  Here, 
after  attending  school,  Richard  joined 
the  family.  Subsequently  he  entered 
Illinois  College  at  Jacksonville, 
where,  in  1837,  he  graduated  with 
first  honors.  He  chose  for  his  pro- 
fession the  law,  the  Hon.  J.  J.  Har- 
din  being  his  instructor.  After  ad- 
mission to  the  Bar  he  soon  rose  to  distinction  as  an 
advocate. 

Gifted  with  a  fluent  and  ready  oratory,  he  soon 
appeared  in  the  political  hustings,  and,  being  a 
passionate  admirer  of  the  great  Whig  leader  of  the 
West.  Henry  Clay,  he  joined  his  political  fortunes  to 
-he  party  of  his  idol.  In  1840  he  engaged  with  great 
<:rdor  in  the  exciting  "  hard  cider "  campaign  for 
-farrison.  Two  years  later  he  was  elected  to  the 
Legislature  from  Morgan  County,  a  Democratic 
stronghold.  He  served  three  or  four  terms  in  the 
Legislature,  and  such  was  the  fascination  of  his  ora- 
r>ry  that  by  1850  his  large  Congressional  District, 
extending  from  Morgan  and  Sangamon  Counties 
i  orth  to  include  LaSalle,  unanimously  tendered  him 
trie  Whig  nomination  for  Congress.  His  Democratic 
opponent  was  Maj.  Thomas  L.  Harris,  a  very  pop- 
lar man  who  had  won  distinction  at  the  battle  of 
Cerro  Gordo,  in  the  Mexican  War,  and  who  had 
aeaten  Hon.  Stephen  T.  Logan  for  the  same  position, 


two  years  before,  by  a  large  majority.  Yates  wa? 
elected.  Two  years  later  he  was  re-elected,  over 
John  Calhoun. 

It  was  during  Yates  second  term  in  Congress  that 
the  great  question  of  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Com- 
promise was  agitated,  and  the  bars  laid  down  for  re- 
opening the  dreaded  anti-slavery  question.  He  took 
strong  grounds  against  the  repeal,  and  thus  became 
identified  with  the  rising  Republican  party.  Conse- 
quently he  fell  into  the  minority  in  his  district,  which 
was  pro-slavery.  Even  then,  in  a  third  contest;  he 
fell  behind  Major  Harris  only  200  votes,  after  the 
district  had  two  years  before  given  Pierce  2,000 
majority  for  President. 

The  Republican  State  Convention  of  r86o  met  at 
Decatur  May  9,  and  nominated  for  the  office  of  Gov- 
ernor Mr.  Yates,  in  preference  to  Hon.  Norman  B. 
Judd,  of  Chicago,  and  Leonard  Swett,  of  Blooming- 
ton,  two  of  the  ablest  men  of  the  State,  who  were 
also  candidates  before  the  Convention.  Francis  A. 
Hoffman,  of  DuPage  County,  was  nominated  for 
Lieutenant  Governor.  This  was  the  year  when  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  a  candidate  for  President,  a  period  re- 
membered as  characterized  by  the  great  whirlpool 
which  precipitated  the  bloody  War  of  the  Rebellion. 
The  Douglas  Democrats  nominated  J.  C.  Allen  cf 
Crawford  County,  for  Governor,  and  Lewis  W.  Ross, 
of  Fulton  County,  for  Lieutenant  Governor.  The 
Breckenridge  Democrats  and  the  Bell-Everett  party 
had  also  full  tickets  in  the  field.  After  a  most  fear- 
ful campaign,  the  result  of  the  election  gave  Mr. 
Yates  T72,i96  votes,  and  Mr,  Allen  159,253.  Mr. 
Yates  received  over  a  thousand  more  votes  than  did 
Mr.  Lincoln  himself. 

Gov.  Yates  occupied  the  chair  of  State  during  the 


RICHARD    YA  TES. 


most  critical  period  of  our  country's  history.  In  the 
fate  of  the  nation  was  involved  that  of  each  State. 
The  life  struggle  of  the  former  derived  its  sustenance 
from  the  loyalty  of  the  latter;  and  Gov.  Yates 
seemed  to  realize  the  situation,  and  proved  himself 
both  loyal  and  wise  in  upholding  the  Government. 
He  ha*  a  deep  hold  upon  the  affections  of  the 
people,  won  by  his  moving  eloquence  and  genial 
manners.  Erect  and  symmetrical  in  person,  of  pre- 
possessing appearance,  with  a  winning  address  and  a 
magnetic  power,  few  men  possessed  more  of  the  ele- 
ments of  popularity.  His  oratory  was  scholarly  and 
captivating,  his  hearers  hardly  knowing  why  they 
were  transported.  He  was  social  and  convivial.  In 
the  latter  respect  he  was  ultimately  carried  too  far. 

The  very  creditable  military  efforts  of  this  State 
during  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  in  putting  into  the 
field  the  enormous  number  of  about  200,000  soldiers, 
were  ever  promptly  and  ably  seconded  by  his  excel- 
lency ;  and  the  was  ambitious  to  deserve  the  title  of 
"the  soldier's  friend."  Immediately  after  the  battle  of 
Shiloh  he  repaired  to  the  field  of  carnage  to  look 
after  the  wounded,  and  his  appeals  for  aid  were 
promptly  responded  to  by  the  people.  His  procla- 
mations calling  for  volunteers  were  impassionate 
appeals,  urging  upon  the  people  the  duties  and  re- 
quirements of  patriotism;  and  his  special  message 
in  1863  to  the  Democratic  Legislature  of  this  State 
pleading  for  material  aid  for  the  sick  and  wounded 
soldiers  of  Illinois  regiments,  breathes  a  deep  fervor 
of  noble  sentiment  and  feeling  rarely  equaled  in 
beauty  or  felicity  of  expression.  Generally  his  mes- 
sages on  political  and  civil  affairs  were  able  and  com- 
prehensive. During  his  administration,  however, 
there  were  no  civil  events  of  an  engrossing  character, 
although  two  years  of  his  time  were  replete  with 
partisan  quarrels  of  great  bitterness.  Military  ar- 
rests, Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle,  riot  in  Fulton 
County,  attempted  suppression  of'the  Chicago  Times 
and  the  usurping  State  Constitutional  Convention  of 
1862,  were  the  chief  local  topics  that  were  exciting 
during  the  Governor's  term.  This  Convention  assem- 
bled Jan.  7,  and  at  once  took  the  high  position  that 
'he  law  calling  it  was  no  longer  binding,  and  that  it 
ad  supreme  power;  that  it  represented  a  virtual 
assemblage  of  the  whole  people  of  the  State,  and  was 
sovereign  in  the  exercise  of  all  power  necessary  to 
effect  a  peaceable  revolution  of  the  State  Government 


and  to  the  re-establishment  of  one  for  the  "  happiness, 
prosperity  and  freedom  of  the  citizens,"  limited  only 
by  the  Federal  Constitution.  Notwithstanding  the 
law  calling  the  Convention  required  its  members  to 
take  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  State 
as  well  as  that  of  the  general  Government,  they 
utterly  refused  to  take  such  oath.  They  also  as- 
sumed legislative  powers  and  passed  several  import- 
ant "laws!"  Interfering  with  the  (then)  present 
executive  duties,  Gov.  Yates  was  "revoked  to  tell 
them  plainly  that  "  he  did  not  acknowledge  the  right 
of  the  Convention  to  instruct  him  in  the  performance 
of  his  duty." 

In  1863  the  Governor  astonished  the  Democrats 
by  "  proroguing  "  their  Legislature.  This  body,  after 
a  recess,  met  June  2,  that  year,  and  soon  began  to 
waste  time  upon  various  partisan  resolutions ;  and, 
while  the  two  houses  were  disagreeing  upon  the 
question  of  adjourning  sine  die,  the  Governor,  having 
the  authority  in  such  cases,  surprised  them  all  by 
adjourning  them  "  to  the  Saturday  next  preceding  the 
first  Monday  in  January,  1865  !  "  This  led  to  great 
excitement  and  confusion,  and  to  a  reference  of  the 
Governor's  act  to  the  Supreme  Court,  who  decided  in 
his  favor.  Then  it  was  the  Court's  turn  to  receive 
abuse  for  weeks  and  months  afterward. 

During  the  autumn  of  1864  a  conspiracy  was  de- 
tected at  Chicago  which  had  for  its  object  the  liber- 
ation of  the  prisoners  of  war  at  Camp  Douglas,  the 
burning  of  the  city  and  the  inauguration  of  rebellion 
in  the  North.  Gen.  Sweet,  who  had  charge  of  the 
camp  at  the  time,  first  had  his  suspicions  of  danger 
;iroused  by  a  number  of  enigmatically  worded  letters 
which  passed  through  the  Camp  postoffice.  A  de- 
tective afterward  discovered  that  the  rebel  Gen. 
Marmaduke  was  in  the  city,  under  an  assumed 
name,  and  he,  with  other  rebel  officers — Grenfell, 
Morgan,  Cantrell,  Buckner  Morris,  and  Charles 
Walsh — was  arrested,  most  of  whom  were  convicted 
by  a  court-martial  at  Cincinnati  and  sentenced  to 
imprisonment, — Grenfell  to  be  hung.  The  sentence 
of  the  latter  was  afterward  commuted  to  imprison- 
ment for  life,  and  all  the  others,  after  nine  months' 
imprisonment,  were  pardoned. 

In  March,  1873,  Gov.  Yates  was  appointed  a  Gov 
eminent  Director  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  in 
which,  office  he  continued  until  his  decease,  at  St. 
Louis,  Mo.,  on  the  27th  of  November  following. 


Tk.  Ubw, 

of  the 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


,63 


ilCHARD  J.  OGLESBY,  Gov- 
ernor 1865-8,  and  re-elected 
in  1872  and  1884,  was  born 
July  25,  1824,  in  Oldham  Co., 
Ky., — the  State  which  might 
be  considered  the  "  mother  of 
Illinois  Governors."  Bereft  of 
his  parents  at  the  tender  age 
of  eight  years,  his  early  education 
was  neglected.  When  12  years  of 
age,  and  after  he  had  worked  a  year 
and  a  half  at  the  carpenter's  trade, 
he  removed  with  an  uncle,  Willis 
Oglesby,  into  whose  care  he  had 
been  committed,  to  Decatur,  this 
State,  where  he  continued  his  ap- 
prenticeship as  a  mechanic,  working  six  months  for 
Hon.  E.  O.  Smith. 

tn  1844  he  commenced  studying  law  at  Spring- 
field, with  Judge  Silas  Robbins,  and  read  with  him 
one  year.  He  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1845,  and 
commenced  the  practice  of  his  chosen  profession  at 
Sullivan,  the  county  seat  of  Moultrie  County. 

The  next  year  the  war  with  Mexico  was  com- 
menced, and  in  June,  1846,  Mr.  Oglesby  volunteered, 
was  elected  First  Lieutenant  of  Co.  C,  Fourth  Illinois 
Regiment  of  Volunteers,  and  participated  in  the  bat- 
tles of  Vera  Cruz  and  Cerro  Gordo. 

On  his  return  he  sought  to  perfect  his  law  studies 
by  attending  a  course  of  lectures  at  Louisville,  but 
on  the  breaking  out  of  the  California  "gold  fever  "  in 
1849,  he  crossed  the  plains  and  mountains  to  the 
new  Eldorado,  driving  a  six-mule  team,  with  a  com- 


pany of  eight  men,  Henry  Prather  being  the  leader. 

In  1852  he  returned  home  to  Macon  County,  and 
was  placed  that  year  by  the  Whig  party  on  the  ticket 
of  Presidential  Electors.  In  1856  he  visited  Europe, 
Asia  and  Africa,  being  absent  20  months.  On  his 
return  home  he  resumed  the  practice  of  law,  as  a 
member  of  the  firm  of  Gallagher,  Wait  &  Oglesby. 
In  1858  he  was  the  Republican  nominee  for  the 
Lower  House  of  Congress,  but  was  defeated  by  the 
Hon.  James  C.  Robinson,  Democrat.  In  1860  he 
was  elected  to  the  Illinois  State  Senate ;  and  on  the 
evening  the  returns  of  this  election  were  coming  in, 
Mr.  Oglesby  had  a  fisticuff  encounter  with  "  Cerro 
Gordo  Williams,"  in  which  he  came  out  victorious, 
and  which  was  regarded  as  "  the  first  fight  of  the 
Rebellion."  The  following  spring,  when  the  war 
had  commenced  in  earnest,  his  ardent  nature 
quickly  responded  to  the  demands  of  patriotism  and 
he  enlisted.  The  extra  session  of  the  Legislature 
elected  him  Colonel  of  the  Eighth  Illinois  Infantry, 
the  second  one  in  the  State  raised  to  suppress  the 
great  Rebellion. 

He  was  shortly  entrusted  with  important  com- 
mands. For  a  time  he  was  stationed  at  Bird's  Point 
and  Cairo ;  in  April  he  was  promoted  Brigadier  Gen~ 
eral ;  at  Fort  Donelson  his  brigade  was  in  the  van, 
being  stationed  on  the  right  of  General  Grant's  army 
and  the  first  brigade  to  be  attacked.  He  lost  500 
men  before  re-inforcements  arrived.  Many  of  these 
men  were  from  Macon  County.  He  was  engaged  in 
the  battle  of  Corinth,  and,  in  a  brave  charge  at  this 
place,  was  shot  in  the  left  lung  with  an  ounce  ball, 
and  was  carried  from  the  field  in  expectation  of  ina- 


i64 


RICHARD  J.    OGLESBY. 


mediate  death.  That  rebel  ball  he  carries  to  this 
day.  On  his  partial  recovery  he  was  promoted  as 
Major  General,  for  gillantry,  his  commission  to  rank 
from  November,  1862.  In  the  spring  of  1863  he 
was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  i6th  Army 
Corps,  but,  owing  to  inability  from  the  effects  of  his 
wound,  he  relinquished  this  command  in  July,  that 
year.  Gen.  Grant,  however,  refused  to  accept  his 
resignation,  and  he  was  detailed,  in  December  follow- 
ing, to  court-martial  and  try  the  Surgeon  General  of 
the  Army  at  Washington,  where  he  remained  until 
May,  1864,  when  he  returned  home. 
The  Republican,  or  Union,  State  Convention  of 

1864  was  held  at  Springfield,   May   25,   when  Mr. 
Oglesby  was  nominated  for  the  office  of  Governor, 
while  other  candidates  before  the  Convention  were 
Allen  C.  Fuller,  of  Boone,  Jesse  K.  Dubois,  of  Sanga- 
mon,   and    John   M.    Palmer,  of  Macoupin.     Wm. 
Bross,  of  Chicago,   was   nominated  for  Lieutenant 
Governor.      On  the  Democratic   State  ticket  were 
James  C.  Robinson,  of  Clark,  for  Governor,  and  S. 
Corning  Judd,  of  Fulton,  for  Lieutenant  Governor. 
The  general  election  gave  Gen.  Oglesby  a  majority 
of  about  31,000  votes.    The  Republicans  had  also  a 
majority  in  both  the  Legislature  and  in  the  repre- 
sentation in  Congress. 

Gov.  Oglesby  was  duly  inaugurated  Jan.  17,  r865_ 
The  day  before  the  first  time  set  for  his  installation 
death  visited  his  home  at  Decatur,  and  took  from  it 
his  only  son,  an  intelligent  and  sprightly  lad  of  six 
years,  a  great  favorite  of  the  bereaved  parents.  This 
caused  the  inauguration  to  be  postponed  a  week. 

The  political  events  of  the  Legislative  session  of 

1865  were  the   election   of  ex-Gov.    Yates   to  the 
United  States  Senate,  and  the  ratification  of  the  131)1 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
abolishing  slavery.      This   session    also    signalized 
itself  by  repealing  the  notorious  "  black  laws,"  part 
of  which,  although  a  dead  letter,  had  held  their  place 
upon  the  statute  books  since  1819.     Also,  laws  re- 
quiring the  registration  of  voters,  and  establishing  a 
State  Board  of  Equalization,  were  passed  by  this  Leg- 
islature.    But  the  same  body  evinced  that  it  was  cor- 
ruptly influenced  by  a  mercenary  lobby,  as  it  adopted 
some  bad  legislation,  over  the  Governor's  veto,  nota- 
bly an  amendment  to  a  charter  for  a  Chicago  horse 
railway,   granted    in    1859  for  25   years,   and  now 
sought  to  be  extended  99  years.     As  this  measure 
was  promptly  passed  over  his  veto  by  both  branches 
of  the  Legislature,  he  deemed  it  useless  further  to 
attempt   to   check  their  headlong  career.     At   this 
session  no  law  of  a  general  useful  character  or  public 
interest  was  perfected,  unless  we  count  such  the 
turning  over  of  the  canal  to  Chicago  to  be  deepened. 
The  session  of  1867  was  still  more   productive  of 
private  and  special  acts.     Many  omnibus  bills  were 
proposed,  and  some  passed.     The  contests  over  the 
.ocation  of  the   Industrial  College,  the  Capital,  the 


Southern  Penitentiary,  and  the  canal  enlargement 
and  Illinois  River  improvement,  dominated  every- 
thing else. 

During  the  year  1872,  it  became  evident  that  if 
the  Republicans  could  re-elect  Mr.  Oglesby  to  the 
office  of  Governor,  they  could  also  elect  him  to  the 
United  States  Senate,  which  they  desired  to  do. 
Accordingly  they  re-nominated  him  for  the  Execu- 
tive chair,  and  placed  upon  the  ticket  with  him  for 
Lieutenant  Governor,  John  L.  Beveridge,  of  Cook 
County.  On  the  other  side  the  Democrats  put  into 
the  field  Gustavus  Koerner  for  Governor  and  John 
C.  Black  for  Lieutenant  Governor.  The  election 
gave  the  Republican  ticket  majorities  ranging  from 
35'334  to  56,174,  —  the  Democratic  defection  being 
caused  mainly  by  their  having  an  old-time  Whig  and 
Abolitionist,  Horace  Greeley,  on  the  national  ticket 
for  President.  According  to  the  general  understand- 
ing had  beforehand,  as  soon  as  the  Legislature  met 
it  elected  Gov.  Oglesby  to  the  United  States  Senate, 
whereupon  Mr.  Beveridge  became  Governor.  Sena- 
tor Oglesby  's  term  expired  March  4,  1879,  having 
served  his  party  faithfully  and  exhibited  an  order  of 
statesmanship  beyond  criticism. 

During  the  campaign  of  1884  Mr.  Oglesby  was 
nominated  for  a  "third  term"  as  Executive  of  the 
State  of  Illinois,  against  Carter  H.  Harrison,  Mayor 
of  Chicago,  nominated  by  the  Democrats.  Both 
gentlemen  "  stumped  "  the  State,  and  while  the  peo- 
ple elected  a  Legislature  which  was  a  tie  on  a  join': 
ballot,  as  between  the  two  parties,  they  gave  the 
jovial  "  Dick"  Oglesby  a  majority  of  I5,or8  for  Gov- 
ernor, and  he  was  inaugurated  Jan.  30,  1885.  The 
Legislature  did  not  fully  organize  until  this  date,  on 
account  of  its  equal  division  between  the  two  main 
parties  and  the  consequent  desperate  tactics  of  each 
party  to  checkmate  the  latter  in  the  organization  of 
the  House. 

Gov.  Oglesby  is  a  fine-appearing,  affable  man,  with 
regular,  well  defined  features  and  rotund  face.  In 
stature  he  is  a  little  above  medium  height,  of  a  large 
frame  and  somewhat  fleshy.  His  physical  appear- 
ance is  striking  and  prepossessing,  while  his  straight- 
out,  not  to  say  bluff,  manner  and  speech  are  weli. 
calculated  favorably  to  impress  the  average  masses. 
Ardent  in  feeling  and  strongly  committed  to  the  pol- 
icies of  his  party,  he  intensifies  Republicanism 
among  Republicans,  while  at  the  same  time  his  iovia. 
and  liberal  manner  prevents  those  of  the  opposite 
party  from  hating  him. 


He  is  quite  an  effective  stump  orator.     With  vehe- 

ent,  passionate  and  scornful    tone   and  gestures. 

tremendous   physical   power,  which  in  speaking  he 


exercises  to  the  utmost  ;  with  frequent  descents  to 
the  grotesque;  and  with  abundant  homely  compari- 
sons or  frontier  figures,  expressed  in  the  broadest 
vernacular  and  enforced  with  stentorian  emphasis, 
he  delights  a  promiscuous  audience  beyond  measure, 


TWUbrary 

of  the 


GO  VERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


'.'t'.'i '.  'i '.  v.i'i '.  'i '.  '< '. ''.••'.' .'  Y :  i1 .' v  : >'.',' ;  i1 ;  >' : .' ;  \< :  >' :  •'..  i'  ..I1..'  i' 


i1 ;  i1 ;  ,' : ,' ; ,'  ;. ,'  : .' ; ,' ;  ,' :  ,'  : ,' ;  i. .,  '. ',  . ',  : ',  . '.  •.  >, '. ',  •. ', : ',  •.  <,  :<>  •.,',•..',•.  .<i :  <\ 


)HN  Me  AULEY  PALMER,  Gov- 
ernor 1869-72,  was  born  on 
Eagle  Creek,  Scott  Co.,  Ky., 
Sept.  13,  1817.  During  his  in- 
fancy, his  father,  who  had  been 
a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812,  re- 
moved to  Christian  Co.,  Ky., 
where  lands  were  cheap.  Here 
the  future  Governor  of  the  great 
Prairie  State  spent  his  childhood 
and  received  such  meager  school- 
ing as  the  new  and  sparsely  set- 
tled country  afforded.  To  this 
he  added  materially  by  diligent 
reading,  for  which  he  evinced  an 
eaily  aptitude.  His  father,  an  ardent  Jackson  man, 
was  also  noted  for  his  anti-slavery  sentiments,  which 
he  thoroughly  impressed  upon  his  children.  In  1831 
he  emigrated  to  Illinois,  settling  in  Madison  County. 
Here  the  labor  of  improving  a  farm  was  pursued  for 
about  two  years,  when  the  death  of  Mr.  Palmer's 
mother  broke  up  the  family.  About  this  time  Alton 
College  was  opened,  on  the  "manual  labor  "  system, 
and  in  the  spring  of  1834  young  Palmer,  with  his 
elder  brother,  Elihu,  entered  this  school  and  remained 
1 8  months.  Next,  for  over  three  years,  he  tried 
variously  coopering,  peddling  and  school-teaching. 

During    the   summer  of   1838  he  formed  the  ac- 
quaintance of  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  then  making  his 


first  canvass  for  Congress.  Young,  eloquent  and  in 
political  accord  with  Mr.  Palmer,  he  won  his  confi- 
dence, fired  his  ambition  and  fixed  his  purpose.  The 
following  winter,  while  teaching  near  Canton,  he  be- 
gan to  devote  his  spare  time  to  a  desultory  reading 
of  la iv,  and  in  the  spring  entered  a  law  office  at  Car- 
linville,  making  his  home  with  his  elder  brother, 
Elihu.  (The  latter  was  a  learned  clergyman,  of  con- 
siderable orginality  of  thought  and  doctrine.)  On 
the  next  meeting  of  the  Supreme  Court  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  Bar,  Douglas  being  one  of  his  examiners. 
He  was  not  immediately  successful  in  his  profession, 
and  would  have  located  elsewhere  than  Carlinville 
had  he  the  requisite  means.  Thus  his  early  poverty 
was  a  blessing  in  disguise,  for  to  it  he  now  attributes 
the  success  of  his  life. 

From  1839  on,  while  he  diligently  pursued  his 
profession,  he  participated  more  or  less  in  local 
politics.  In  1843  he  became  Probate  Judge.  In 
1847  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Constitutional  Con 
vention,  where  he  took  a  leading  part.  In  1852  IK 
was  elected  to  the  State  Senate,  and  at  the  special 
session  of  February,  1854,  true  to  the  anti-slaverj 
sentiments  bred  in  him,  he  took  a  firm  stand  in  op 
position  to  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise, 
and  when  the  Nebraska  question  became  a  party 
issue  he  refused  to  receive  a  re-nomination  for  th< 
Senatorship  at  the  hands  of  the  Democracy,  issuin; 
a  circular  to  that  effect.  A  few  weeks  afterward. 


j68 


JOHN  MC  AULEY  PALMER. 


however,  hesitating  to  break  with  his  party,  he  par- 
ticipated in  a  Congressional  Convention  which  nomi- 
T.  L.  Harris  against  Richard  Yates,  and  which 
unqualifiedly  approved  the  principles  of  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  act.  But  later  in  the  campaign  he  made 
the  plunge,  ran  for  the  Senate  as  an  Anti-Nebraska 
Democrat,  and  was  elected.  The  following  winter 
he  put  in  nomination  for  the  ^United  States  Senate 
Mr.  Trumbull,  and  was  one  of  the  five  steadfast  men 
who  voted  for  him  until  all  the  Whigs  came  to  their 
support  and  elected  their  man. 

In  1856  he  was  Chairman  of  the  Republican  State 
Convention  at  Bloomington.  He  ran  for  Congress  in 
1859,  but  was  defeated.  In  1860  he  was  Republican 
Presidential  Elector  for  the  State  at  large.  In  1861 
he  was  appointed  one  of  the  five  Delegates  (all  Re- 
publicans) sent  by  Illinois  to  the  peace  congress  at 
Washington. 

When  the  civil  conflict  broke  out,  he  offered  his 
services  to  his  country,  and  was  elected  Colonel  of  the 
:4th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  and  participated  in  the  engagements 
at  Island  No.  10;  at  Fartr.ington,  where  he  skillfully 
extricated  his  command  from  a  dangerous  position  ; 
at  Stone  River,  where  his  division  for  several  hours, 
Dec.  31,  1862,  held  the  advance  and  stood  like  a 
rock,  and  for  his  gallantry  there  he  was  made  Major 
General;  at  Chickamauga,  where  his  and  Van  Cleve's 
divisions  for  two  hours  maintained  their  position 
when  they  were  cut  off  by  overpowering  numbers. 
Under  Gen.  Sherman,  he  was  assigned  to  the  i4th 
Army  Corps  and  participated  in  the  Atlanta  campaign. 
At  Peach-Tree  Creek  his  prudence  did  much  to  avert 
disaster.  In  February,  1865,  Gen.  Palmer  was  as- 
signed to  the  military  administration  of  Kentucky, 
which  was  a  delicate  post.  That  State  was  about 
half  rebel  and  half  Union,  and  those  of  the  latter 
element  were  daily  fretted  by  the  loss  of  their  slaves. 
He,  who  had  been  bred  to  the  rules  of  common  law, 
trembled  at  the  contemplation  of  his  extraordinary 
power  over  the  persons  and  property  of  his  fellow 
men,  with  which  he  was  vested  in  his  capacity  as 
military  Governor ;  and  he  exhibited  great  caution  in 
the  execution  of  the  duties  of  his  post. 

Gen.  Palmer  was  nominated  for  Governor  of  Illi- 
nois by  the  Republican  State  Convention  which  met 
at^Peoru  May  6,  1868,  and  his  nomination  would 
probably  have  been  made  by  acclamation  had  he  not 
persistently  declared  that  he  could  not  accept  a  can- 


didature for  the  office.  The  result  of  the  ensuing 
election  gave  Mr.  Palmer  a  majority  of  44,707  over 
John  R.  Eden,  the  Democratic  nominee. 

Oa  the  mseting  of  the  Legislature  in  January, 
1869,  the  first  thing  to  arrest  public  attention  was 
that  portion  of  the  Governor's  message  which  took 
broad  Slate's  rights  ground.  This  and  some  minor 
points,  which  were  more  in  keeping  with  the  Demo- 
cratic sentiment,  constituted  the  entering  wedge  f  jr 
the  criticisms  and  reproofs  he  afterward  received 
from  the  Republican  party,  and  ultimately  resulted 
in  his  entire  aleniation  from  the  latter  element.  The 
Legislature  just  referred  to  was  noted  for  the  intro- 
duction of  numerous  bills  in  the  interest  of  private 
parties,  which  were  embarrassing  to  the  Governor. 
Among  the  public  acts  passed  was  that  which  limited 
railroad  charges  for  passenger  Iravel  to  a  maximum 
of  three  cents  per  mile ;  and  it  was  passed  over  the 
Governor's  veto.  Also,  they  passed,  over  his  veto, 
the  "tax-grabbing  law"  to  pay  r^.ilrocd  subscriptions, 
the  Chicago  Lake  Front  bill,  etc.  The  new  State 
Constitution  of  1870,  far  superior  to  the  old,  was  a 
peaceful  "  revolution"  which  took  place  during  Gov. 
Palmer's  term  of  office.  The  suffering  caused  by  the 
great  Chicago  Fire  of  October,  187 1,  was  greatly 
alleviated  by  the  prompt  responses  of  his  excellency. 

Since  the  expiration  of  Gov.  Palmers's  term,  he  has 
been  somewhat  prominent  in  Illinois  politics,  and 
has  been  talked  of  by  many,  especially  in  the  Dem- 
ocratic party,  as  the  best  man  in  the  State  for  a 
United  States  Senator.  His  business  during  life  has 
been  that  of  the  law.  Few  excel  him  in  an  accurate 
appreciation  of  the  depth  and  scope  of  its  principles. 
The  great  number  of  his  able  veto  messages  abun- 
dantly testify  not  only  this  but  also  a  rare  capacity  to 
point  them  out.  He  is  a  logical  and  cogent  reasoner 
and  an  interesting,  forcible  and  convincing  speaker, 
though  not  fluent  or  ornate.  Without  brilliancy,  his 
dealings  are  rather  with  facts  and  ideas  than  with 
appeals  to  passions  and  prejudices.  He  is  a  patriot 
and  a  statesman  of  very  high  order.  Physically  he  is 
above  the  medium  height,  of  robust  frame,  ruddy 
complexion  and  sanguine-nervous  temperament.  He 
has  a  large  cranial  development,  is  vivacious,  social 
in  disposition,  easy  of  approach,  unostentatious  in  his 
habits  of  life,  democratic  in  his  habits  and  manners 
and  is  a  true  American  in  his  fundamental  principle.' 
of  statesmanship. 


Tk«  Library 

of  the 
Un«v«rtlty  ol 


GO  VERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


I: '' •'  ''W.-i'-"'1-.-''  .j'^j- •' »' .  -' .' .- .' »;  •' .'  •'  <••:.  '.•'.  •.'.-.'• '.  •• '.  •< '. '. '.  ;. '. '. '. '- '..'.  •."•''.-.•'.  '•  ''i: 


OHN  LOWRiE  BEVER- 
IDGE,  Governor  187  3-6,  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Green- 
wich, Washington  Co.,  N.  Y., 
July  6,  1824.  His  parents 
j|l*  were  George  and  Ann  Bever- 
idge.  His  father's  parents,  An- 
drew and  Isabel  Beveridge,  be- 
fore their  marriage  emigrated 
from  Scotland  just  before  the 
Revolutionary  War,  settling  in 
»  Washington  County.  His  father 
was  the  eldest  of  eight  brothers,  the 
youngest  of  whom  was  60  years  of 
age  when  the  first  one  of  the  num- 
ber died.  His  mother's  parents, 
James  and  Agnes  Hoy,  emigrated 
from  Scotland  at  the  close  of  the 
Revolutionary  War,  settling  also  in 
Washington  Co.,  N.  Y.,  with  their 
first-born,  whose  "  native  land  "was 
the  wild  ocean.  His  parents  and 
grandparents  lived  beyond  the  time 
allotted  to  man,  their  average  age 
being  over  80  years.  They  belonged  to  the  "Asso- 
ciate Church,"  a  seceding  Presbyterian  body  of 


America  from  the  old  Scotch  school ;  and  so  rig'd 
was  the  training  of  young  Beveridge  that  he  never 
heard  a  sermon  from  any  other  minister  except  that 
of  his  own  denomination  until  he  was  in  his  igth 
year.  Later  in  life  he  became  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  which  relation  he  still 
holds. 

Mr.  Beveridge  received  a  good  common-school  ed- 
ucation, but  his  parents,  who  could  obtain  a  livelihood 
only  by  rigid  economy  and  industry,  could  not  send 
him  away  to  college.  He  was  raised  upon  a  farm, 
and  was  in  his  i8th  year  when  the  family  removed 
to  De  Kalb  County,  this  State,  when  that  section  was 
very  sparsely  settled.  Chicago  had  less  than  7,000 
inhabitants.  In  this  wild  West  he  continued  as  a 
farm  laborer,  teaching  school  during  the  winter 
months  to  supply  the  means  of  an  education.  In  the 
fall  of  1842  he  attended  one  term  at  the  academy  at 
Granville,  Putnam  Co.,  111.,  and  subsequently  several 
terms  at  the  Rock  River  Seminary  at  Mount  Morris, 
Ogle  Co.,  111.,  completing  the  academic  course.  At 
this  time,  the  fall  of  1845,  his  parents  and  brothers 
were  anxious  to  have  him  go  to  college,  even  though 
he  had  not  money  sufficient;  but,  n  ,t  willing  to  bur- 
den the  family,  he  packed  his  trunk  and  with  only 
$40  in  money  started  South  to  seek  his  fortune 


JOHN  L.  BE  VE RIDGE. 


Poor,  alone,  without  friends  and  influence,  he  thus 
entered  upon  the  battle  of  life. 

First,  he  taught  school  in  Wilson,  Overton  and 
Jackson  Cos.,  Tenn.,  in  which  experience  he  under- 
went considerable  mental  drill,  both  in  book  studies 
and  in  the  ways  of  the  world.  He  read  law  and  was 
admitted  to  the  Bar,  in  the  South,  but  did  not  learn 
to  love  the  institution  of  slavery,  although  he  ad- 
mired many  features  of  Southern  character.  In  De- 
cember, 1847,  he  returned  North,  and  Jan.  20,  1848, 
he  married  Miss  Helen  M.  Judson,  in  the  old  Clark- 
Street  M.  E.  church  in  Chicago,  her  father  at  that 
time  being  Pastor  of  the  society  there.  In  the  spring 
of  1848  he  returned  with  his  wife  to  Tennessee, 
where  his  two  children,  Alia  May  and  Philo  Judson, 
were  born. 

In  the  fall  of  1849,  through  the  mismanagement 
of  an  associate,  he  lost  what  little  he  had  accumu- 
lated and  was  left  in  debt.  He  soon  managed  to 
earn  means  to  pay  his  debts,  returned  to  De  Kalb 
Co.,  111.,  and  entered  upon  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession at  Sycamore,  the  county  seat.  On  arrival 
from  the  South  he  had  but  one-quarter  of  a  dollar  in 
money,  and  scanty  clothing  and  bedding  for  himself 
and  family.  He  borrowed  a  little  money,  practiced 
iaw,  worked  in  public  offices,  kept  books  for  some  of 
the  business  men  of  the  town,  and  some  railroad  en- 
gineering, till  the  spring  of  1854,  when  he  removed 
to  Evanston,  1 2  miles  north  of  Chicago,  a  place  then 
but  recently  laid  out,  under  the  supervision  of  the 
Northwestern  University,  a  Methodist  institution. 
Of  the  latter  his  father-in-law  was  then  financial 
agent  and  business  manager.  Here  Mr.  Beveridge 
prospered,  and  the  next  year  (1855)  opened  a  law 
office  in  Chicago,  where  he  found  the  battle  some- 
what hard;  but  he  persevered  with  encouragement 
and  increasing  success; 

Aug.  12,  1861,  his  law  partner,  Gen.  John  F. 
Farnsworth,  secured  authority  to  raise  a  regiment  of 
cavalry,  and  authorized  Mr.  Beveridge  to  raise  a 
company  for  it.  He  succeeded  in  a  few  days  in  rais- 
ing the  company,  of  course  enlisting  himself  along 
with  it.  The  regiment  rendezvoused  at  St.  Charles, 
111.,  was  mustered  in  Sept.  1 8,  and  on  its  organiza- 
tion Mr.  B.  was  elected  Second  Major.  It  was  at- 
tached, Oct.  n,  to  the  Eighth  Cavalry  and  to  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac.  He  served  with  the  regiment 
until  November,  1863,  participating  in  some  40  bat- 


tles and  skirmishes  :  was  at  Fair  Oaks,  the  seven  days 
fight,  around  Richmond,  Fredericksburg,  Chancellors- 
ville  and  Gettysburg.  He  commanded  the  regiment 
the  greaterpart  of  the  summer  of  1863,  and  it  was  while 
lying  in  camp  this  year  that  he  originated  the  policy 
of  encouraging  recruits  as  well  as"  the  fighting  capac- 
ity of  the  soldiery,  by  the  wholesale  furlough  system. 
It  worked  so  well  that  many  other  officers  adopted 
it.  In  the  fall  of  this  year  he  recruited  another  com- 
pany, against  heavy  odds,  in  January,  1864,  was 
commissioned  Colonel  of  the  I7th  111.  Cav.,  and 
skirmished  around  in  Missouri,  concluding  with  the 
reception  of  the  surrender  of  Gen.  Kirby  Smith's 
army  in  Arkansas.  In  1865  he  commanded  various 
sub-districts  in  the  Southwest.  He  was  mustered 
out  Feb.  6,  1866,  safe  from  the  casualties  of  war  and 
a  stouter  man  than  when  he  first  enlisted.  His  men 
idolized  him. 

He  then  returned  to  Chicago,  to  practice  law,  with 
no  library  and  no  clientage,  and  no  political  experi- 
ence except  to  help  others  into  office.  In  the  fall  of 
1866  he  was  elected  Sheriff  of  Cook  County,  serving 
one  term;  next,  until  November,  1870,  he  practiced 
law  and  closed  up  the  unfinished  business  of  his 
office.  He  was  then  elected  State  Senator;  in  No- 
vember, 1871,  he  was  elected  Congressman  at  large; 
in  November,  1872,  he  was  elected  Lieutenant  Gov- 
ernor on  the  ticket  with  Gov.  Oglesby;  the  latter  be- 
ing elected  to  the  U.  S.  Senate,  Mr.  Beveridge  became 
Governor,  Jan.  21,  1873.  Thus,  inside  of  a  few 
weeks,  he  was  Congressman  at  large,  Lieutenant 
Governor  and  Governor.  The  principal  events  oc- 
curring during  Gov.  Beveridge's  administration  were: 
The  completion  of  the  revision  of  the  statutes,  begun 
in  1869;  the  partial  success  of  the  "farmers'  move- 
ment;" "  Haines'  Legislature  "  and  Illinois'  exhibit  at 
the  Centennial. 

Since  the  close  of  his  gubernatorial  term  ex-Gov. 
Beveridge  has  been  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Bever- 
idge &  Dewey,  bankers  and  dealers  in  commercial 
paper  at  71  Dearborn  Street  (McCormick  Block), 
Chicago,  and  since  November,  1881,  he  has  also  been 
Assistant  United  States  Treasurer'  office  in  the 
Government  Building.  His  residence  is  still  at  Ev- 
anston. 

He  has  a  brother  and  two  sisters  yet  residing  in 
De  Kalb  County — James  H.  Beveridge,  Mrs.  Jennet 
Henry  and  Mrs.  Isabel  French. 


TWUbnry 

•f  the 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


HELBY  M.  CULLOM,  Gover- 
nor 1877-83,  ib  the  sixth  child 
of  the  late  Richard  N.  Cullom, 
and  was  bom  Nov.  22,  1829,  in 
Wayne  Co.,  Ky.,  where  his  fa- 
ther then  resided,  and  whence 
both  the  Illinois  and  Tennessee 
branches  of  the  family  originated.  In 
the  following  year  the  family  emi- 
grated to  the  vicinity  of  Washington, 
Tazewell  Co.,  111.,  when  that  section 
was  very  sparsely  settled.  They  lo- 
cated on  Deer  Creek,  in  a  grove  at 
the  time  occupied  by  a  party  of  In- 
dians, attracted  there  by  the  superior 
hunting  and  fishing  afforded  in  that 
vicinity.  The  following  winter  was 
known  as  the  "  hard  winter,"  the  snow  ^being  very 
deep  and  lasting  and  the  weather  severely  cold;  and 
the  family  had  to  subsist  mainly  on  boiled  corn  or 
hominy,  and  some  wild  game,  for  several  weeks.  In 
the  course  of  time  Mr.  R.  N.  Cullom  became  a  prom- 
inent citizen  and  was  several  times  elected  to  the 
Legislature,  both  before  and  after  the  removal  of  the 
capital  from  Vandalia  to  Springfield.  He  died  about 
•8?3- 

Until  about  19  years  of  age  young  Cullom  grew  up 

to  agricultural  pursuits,  attending  school  as  he  had 

•ipportunity  during   the   winter.     Within    this   time, 

ov/ever,  he  spent  several  months  teachin"  school. 


and  in  the  following  summer  he  "broke  prairie  "with 
an  ox  team  for  the  neighbors,  With  the  money  ob- 
tained by  these  various  ventures,  he  undertook  a 
course  of  study  at  the  Rock  River  Seminary,  a 
Methodist  institution  at  Mt.  Morris,  Ogle  County; 
but  the  sudden  change  to  the  in-door  life  of  a  stu- 
dent told  severely  upon  his  health,  and  he  was  taken 
home,  being  considered  in  a  hopelesa  condition.  While 
at  Mt.  Morris  he  heard  Hon.  E.  B.  Washburne  make 
his  first  speech. 

On  recovering  health,  Mr.  Cullom  concluded  to 
study  law,  under  the  instruction  of  Abraham  Lincoln, 
at  Springfield,  who  had  by  this  time  attained  some 
notoriety  as  an  able  lawyer;  but  the  latter,  being  ab- 
sent from  his  office  most  of  the  time,  advised  Mr. 
Cullom  to  enter  the  office  of  Stuart  &  Edwards. 
After  about  a  year  of  study  there,  however,  his  health 
failed  again,  and  he  was  obliged  to  return  once  more 
to  out-door  life.  Accordingly  he  bought  hogs  for 
packing,  for  A.  G.  Tyng,  in  1'eoria,  and  while  he  re- 
gained his  health  he  gained  in  purse,  netting  $400  in 
a  few  weeks.  Having  been  admitted  to  the  Bar,  he 
went  to  Springfield,  where  he  was  soon  elected  City 
Attorney,  on  the  Anti-Nebraska  ticket. 

In  1856  he  ran  on  the  Fillmore  ticket  as  a  Presi- 
dential Elector,  and,  although  failing  to  be  elected  as 
such,  he  was  at  the  same  time  elected  a  Representa- 
tive in  the  Legislature  from  Sangamon  County,  by  a 
local  coalition  of  the  American  and  Republican  par- 
ties. On  the  organization  of  the  House,  he  received 
the  vote  of  the  Fillmore  men  for  Speaker.  Practicing 


i76 


SHELB  Y  M.    CULLOM. 


law  until  1 860,  he  was  again  elected  to  the  Legisla- 
ture, as  a  Republican,  while  the  county  went  Demo- 
cratic on  the  Presidential  ticket.  In  January  follow- 
ing he  was  elected  Speaker,  probably  the  youngest 
man  who  had  ever  presided  over  an  Illinois  Legis- 
lature. After  the  session  of  1 86 1,  he  was  a  candidate 
for  the  State  Constitutional  Convention  called  for 
that  year,  but  was  defeated,  and  thus  escaped  the 
disgrace  of  being  connected  with  that  abortive  party 
scheme  to  revolutionize  the  State  Government.  In 
1862  he  was  a  candidate  for  the  State  Senate,  but 
was  defeated.  The  same  year,  however,  he  was  ap- 
pointed by  President  Lincoln  on  a  Government 
Commission,  in  company  with  Gov.  Boutwell  of 
Massachusetts  and  Cnarles  A.  Dana,  since  of  the 
New  York  Sun,  to  investigate  the  affairs  of  the 
Quartermaster's  and  Commissary  Departments  at 
Cairo.  He  devoted  several  months  to  this  duty. 

In  1864  he  enteied  upon  a  larger  political  field, 
being  nominated  as  the  Republican  candidate  for 
Congress  from  the  Eighth  (Springfield)  District,  in 
opposition  to  the  incumbent,  JohnT.  Stuart,  who  had 
been  elected  in  1862  by  about  1,500  majority  over 
Leonard  Swett,  then  of  Bloomington,  now  of  Chicago. 
The  result  was  the  election  of  Mr.  Cullom  in  Novem- 
ber following  by  a  majority  of  1,785.  In  1866  he 
was  re-elected  to  Congress,  over  Dr.  E.  S.  Fowler,  by 
the  magnificent  majority  of  4,103!  In  1868  he  was 
again  a  candidate,  defeating  the  Hon.  B.  S.  Edwards, 
another  of  his  old  preceptors,  by  2,884  votes. 

During  his  first  term  in  Congress  he  served  on  the 
Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs  and  Expenditures  in 
the  Treasury  Department;  in  his  second  term,  on 
the  Committees  on  Foreign  Affairs  and  on  Territories ; 
arid  in  his  third  term  he  succeeded  Mr.  Ashley,  of 
Ohio,  to  the  Chairmanship  of  the  latter..  He  intro- 
duced a  bill  in  the  House,  to  aid  in  the  execution  of 
law  in  Utah,  which  caused  more  consternation  among 
the  Mormons  than  any  measure  had  previously,  but 
which,  though  it  passed  the  House,  failed  to  pass  the 
Senate. 

The  Republican  Convention  which  met  May  25, 
1876,  nominated  Mr.  Cullom  for  Governor,  while  the 
other  contestant  was  Gov.  Beveridge.  For  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor  they  nominated  Andrew  Shuman,  editor 
of  the  Chicago  Journal.  For  the  same  offices  the 
Democrats,  combining  with  the  Anti-Monopolists, 
olaced  in  nomination  Lewis  Steward,  a  wealthy 


farmer  and  manufacturer,  and  A.  A.  Glenn.  The 
result  of  the  election  was  rather  close,  Mr.  Cullom 
obtaining  only  6,800  majority.  He  was  inaugurated 
Jan.  8,  1877. 

Great  depression  prevailed  in  financial  circles  at 
this  time,  as  a  consequence  of  the  heavy  failures  of 
1873  and  afterward,  the  effect  of  which  had  seemed 
to  gather  force  from  that  time  to  the  end  of  Gov. 
Cullom's  first  administration.  This  unspeculative 
period  was  not  calculated  to  call  forth  any  new 
issues,  but  the  Governor's  energies  were  at  one  time  I 
put  to  task  to  quell  a  spirit  of  insubordination  that  ) 
had  been  begun  in  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  among  the  laboring 
classes,  and  transferred  to  Illinois  at  Chicago,  East 
St.  Louis  and  Braidwood,  at  which  places  laboring 
men  for  a  short  time  refused  to  work  or  allow  others 
to  work.  These  disturbances  were  soon  quelled  and 
the  wheels  of  industry  again  set  in  motion. 

In  May,  1880,  Gov.  Cullom  was  re-nominated  by     ] 
the  Republicans,  against  Lyman  Trumbull,  by  the 
Democrats;  and  although  the  former  party  was  some-     I 
what  handicapped  in  the   campaign   by   a  zealous     ; 
faction  opposed  to  Grant  for  President  and  to  Grant 
men  for  office  generally,  Mr.  Cullom  was  re-elected 
by  about  314,565,  to  277,532  for  the  Democratic  State 
ticket.     The  Greenback  vote  at  the  same  time  was 
about  27,000.     Both  Houses  of  the  Legislature  again 
became    Republican,  and    no  representative  of  the 
Greenback  or  Socialist  parties  were  elected.     Gov. 
Cullom  was  inaugurated  Jan.  10,  iS8i.     In  his  mes-      1 
sage  he  announced  that  the  last  dollar  of  the  State      j 
debt  had  been  provided  for. 

March  4,  1883,  the  term  of  David  Davis  as  United 
States  Senator  from  Illinois  expired,  and  Gov.  Cul- 
lo  n  was  chosen  to  succeed  him.  This  promoted 
Lisutenant-Governor  John  M.  Hamilton  to  the  Gov- 
ernorship. Senator  Cullom's  tenn  in  the  United 
States  Senate  will  expire  March  4,  1889. 

A.S  a  practitioner  of  law  Mr.  C.  has  been  a  member 
of  the  firm  of  Cullom,  Scholes  &  Mather,  at  Spring- 
field; and  he  has  also  been  President  of  the  State 
National  Bank. 

He  has  been  married  twice, — the  first  time  Dec. 
ii!,  1855,  to  Miss  Hannah  Fisher,  by  whom  he  had 
tv*o  daughters;  and  the  second  time  May  5,  1863, 
to  Julia  Fisher.  Mrs.  C  is  p,  member  of  the  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church,  with  which  religious  body  Mr. 
C.  is  also  in  sympathy. 


Tfet  librae, 
•f  the 

Of     HlllHN. 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


OHN  MARSHALL  HAMIL- 
TON, Governor  1883-5,  was 
born  May  28,  1847,  in  a  log 
house  upon  a  farm  about  two 
miles  from  Richwood,  Union 
County,  Ohio.  His  father  was 
Samuel  Hamilton,  the  eldest  son 
of  Rev.  Wm.  Hamilton,  who,  to- 
gether with  his  brother,  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Hamilton,  was  among  the 
early  pioneer  Methodist  preachers  in 
Ohio.  The  mother  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  was,  before  her  marriage, 
Mrs.  Nancy  McMorris,  who  was 
born  and  raised  in  Fauquier  or  Lou- 
doun  County,  Va.,  and  related  to  the 
two  large  families  of  Youngs  and  Marshalls,  well 
known  in  that  commonwealth ;  and  from  the  latter 
family  name  was  derived  the  middle  name  of  Gov. 
Hamilton. 

In  March,  1854,  Mr.  Hamilton's  father  sold  out 
his  little  pioneer  forest  home  in  Union  County,  O., 
and,  loading  his  few  household  effects  and  family 
(of  six  children)  into  two  emigrant  covered  wagons, 
moved  to  Roberts  Township,  Marshall  Co.,  111.,  being 
2 1  days  on  the  route.  Swamps,  unbridged  streams 
and  innumerable  hardships  and  privations  met  them 
on  their  way.  Their  new  home  had  been  previously 
selected  by  the  father.  Here,  after  many  long  years 
of  toil,  they  succeeded  in  paying  for  the  land  and 
./taking  a  comfort^'''  home.  John  was,  of  course,  1 


brought  up  to  hard  manual  labor,  with  no  schooling 
except  three  or  four  months  in  the  year  at  a  common 
country  school.  However,  he  evinced  a  capacity 
and  taste  for  a  high  order  of  self-education,  by 
studying  or  reading  what  books  he  could  borrow,  as 
the  family  had  but  very  few  in  the  house.  Much  of 
his  study  he  prosecuted  by  the  light  of  a  log  fire  in 
the  old-fashioned  chimney  place.  The  financial 
panic  of  1857  caused  the  family  to  come  near  losing 
their  home,  to  pay  debts ;  but  the  father  and  two 
sons,  William  and  John,  "buckled  to"  and  perse- 
vered in  hard  labor  and  economy  until  they  redeemed 
their  place  from  the  mortgage. 

When  the  tremendous  excitement  of  the  political 
campaign  of  1860  reached  the  neighborhood  of  Rob- 
erts Township,  young  Hamilton,  who  had  been 
brought  up  in  the  doctrine  of  anti-slavery,  took  a  zeal- 
ous part  in  favor  of  Lincoln's  election.  Making  special 
efforts  to  procure  a  little  money  to  buy  a  uniform,  he 
joined  a  company  of  Lincoln  Wide-Awakes  at  Mag- 
nolia, a  village  not  far  away.  Directly  after  the 
ensuing  election  it  became  evident  that  trouble 
would  ensue  with  the  South,  and  this  Wide-Awake 
company,  like  many  others  throughout  the  country, 
kept  up  its  organization  and  transformed  itself  into  a 
military  company.  During  the  ensuing  summer  they 
met  often  for  drill  and  became  proficient ;  but  when 
they  offered  themselves  for  the  war,  young  Hamilton 
was  rejected  on  account  of  his  youth,  he  being  then 
but  14  years  of  age.  During  the  winter  of  1863-4  he 
attended  an  academy  at  Henry,  Marshall  County, 


JOHN  MARSHALL  HAMILTON. 


and  in  the  following  May  he  again  enlisted,  for  the 
fourth  time,  when  he  was  placed  in  the  i4ist  I'll. 
Vol.  Inf.,  a  regiment  then  being  raised  at  Elgin,  111., 
for  the  too-day  service.  He  took  with  him  13  other 
lads  from  his  neighborhood,  for  enlistment  in  the 
service.  This  regiment  operated  in  Southwestern 
Kentucky,  for  about  five  months,  under  Gen.  Paine, 

The  following  winter,  1864-5,  Mr-  Hamilton  taught 
school,  and  during  the  two  college  years  1865-7,  he 
went  through  three  years  of  the  curriculum  of  the 
Ohio  Wesleyan  University  at  Delaware,  Ohio.  The 
third  year  he  graduated,  the  fourth  in  a  class  of  46, 
in  the  classical  department.  In  due  time  he  received- 
the  degree  of  M.  A.  For  a  few  months  he  was  the 
Principal  of  Marshall  "  College  "  at  Henry,  an  acad- 
emy under  the  auspices  of  the  M.  E.  Church.  By 
this  time  he  had  commenced  the  study  of  law,  and 
after  earning  some  money  as  a  temporary  Professor 
of  Latin  at  the  Illinois  Wesleyan  University  at 
Bloomington,  he  entered  the  law  office  of  Weldon, 
Tipton  &  Benjamin,  of  that  city.  Each  member  of 
this  firm  has  since  been  distinguished  as  a  Judge. 
Admitted  to  the  Bar  in  May,  1870,  Mr.  Hamilton 
was  given  an  interest  in  the  same  firm,  Tipton  hav- 
ing been  elected  Judge.  In  October  following  he 
formed  a  partnership  with  J.  H.  Rowell,  at  that  time 
Prosecuting  Attorney.  Their  business  was  then 
small,  but  they  increased  it  to  very  large  proportions, 
practicing  in  all  grades  of  courts,  including  even  the 
U.  S.  Supreme  Court,  and  this  partnership  continued 
•nbroken  until  Feb.  6,  1883,  when  Mr.  Hamilton 
Fas  sworn  in  as  Executive  of  Illinois.  On  the  4th 
•f  March  following  Mr.  Rowell  took  his  seat  in  Con- 
gress. 

In  July,  1871,  Mr.  Hamilton  married  Miss  Helen 
M.  Williams,  the  daughter  of  Prof.  Wm.  G.  Williams, 
professor  of  Greek  in  the  Ohio  Wejleyan  University. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  H.  have  two  daughters  and  one  son. 

In  1876  Mr.  Hamilton  was  nominated  by  the  Re- 
publicans for  the  State  Senate,  over  other  and  older 
competitors.  He  took  an  active  part  "  on  the  stump  " 
in  the  campaign,  for  the  success  of  his  party,  and  was 
elected  by  a  majority  of  1,640  over  his  Democratic- 
Greenback  opponent.  In  the  Senate  he  served  on 
the  Committees  on  Judiciary,  Revenue,  State  Insti- 
tutions, Appropriations,  Education,  and  on  Miscel- 
lany ;  and  during  the  contest  for  the  election  of  a 
U.  S.  Senator,  the  Republicans  endeavoring  to  re- 


elect  John  A.  Logan,  he  voted  for  the  war  chief  on 
every  ballot,  even  alone  when  all  the  other  Republi- 
cans had  gone  over  to  the  Hon.  E.  B.  Lawrence  and 
the  Democrats  and  Independents  elected  Judg? 
David  Davis.  At  this  session,  also,  was  passed  the 
first  Board  of  Health  and  Medical  Practice  act,  of 
which  Mr.  Hamilton  was  a  champion,  agair.c,  :o> 
much  opposition  that  the  bill  was  several  times 
"  laid  on  the  table."  Also,  this  session  authorized 
the  location  and  establishment  of  a  southern  peni- 
tentiary, which  was  fixed  at  Chester.  In  the  session 
of  1879  Mr.  Hamilton  was  elected  President  pro  tern. 
of  the  Senate,  and  was  a  zealous  supporter  of  John 
A.  Logan  for  the  U.  S.  Senate,  who  was  this  time 
elected  without  any  trouble. 

In  May,  1880,  Mr.  Hamilton  was  nominated  on 
the  Republican  ticket  for  Lieutenant  Governor,  his 
principal  competitors  before  the  Convention  being 
Hon.  Wm.  A.  James,  ex-Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  Judge  Robert  Bell,  of  ^abash 
County,  Hon.  T.  T.  Fountain,  of  Perry  County,  and 
Hon.  M.  M.  Saddler,  of  Marion  County.  Reengaged 
actively  in  the  campaign,  and  his  ticket  was  elected 
by  a  majority  of  41,200.  As  Lieutenant  Governor, 
he  presided  almost  continuously  over  the  Senate  in 
the  32d  General  Assembly  and  during  the  early  days 
of  the  33d,  until  he  succeeded  to  the  Governorship. 
When  the  Legislature  of  1883  elected  Gov.  Cullom 
to  the  United  States  Senate,  Lieut.  Gov.  Hamilton 
succeeded  him,  under  the  Constitution,  taking  the 
oath  of  office  Feb.  6,  1883.  He  bravely  met  all  the 
annoyances  and  embarrassments  incidental  upon 
taking  up  another's  administration.  The  principal 
events  with  which  Gov.  Hamilton  was  connected  as 
the  Chief  Executive  of  the  State  were,  the  mine  dis- 
aster at  Braidwood,  the  riots  in  St.  Clairand  Madison 
Counties  in  May,  1883,  the  appropriations  for  the 
State  militia,  the  adoption  of  the  Harper  high-license 
liquor  law,  the  veto  of  a  dangerous  railroad  bill,  etc. 

The  Governor  was  a  Delegate  at  large  to  the 
National  Republican  Convention  at  Chicago  in  June, 

1884,  where  his  first  choice  for  President  was  John 
A.  Logan,  and  second  choice  Chester  A.  Arthur;  but 
he  afterward  zealously  worked  for  the  election  of  Mr. 
Elaine,  true  to  his  party. 

Mr.  Hamilton's  term  a*  Governor  expired  Jan.  30, 

1885,  when  the  great  favorite  "  Dick  "  Oglesby  was 
inaugurated. 


Tit  library 
of  the 
of  (HIM,, 


0 


t  f 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


SEPH  WILSON  FIFER.  This 
distinguished  gentleman  was 
elected  Governor  of  Illinois 
November  6,  1888.  He  was 
popularly  known  during  the 
campaign  as  "Private  Joe."  He 
had  served  with  great  devotion 
to  his  country  during  the  Re- 
bellion, in  the  Thirty-third 
Illinois  Infantry.  A  native  of 
Virginia,  lie  was  born  in  1840. 
His  parents,  John  and  Mary 
(Daniels)  Fifer,  were  American 
born,  though  of  German  de- 
scent. His  father  was  a  brick 
and  stone  mason,  and  an  old 
Henry  Clay  Whig  in  polities.  John  and  Mary 
Fifer  had  nine  children,  of  whom  Joseph  was  the 
sixth,  and  naturally,  with  so  large  a  family,  it  was 
all  the  father  could  do  to  keep  the  wolf  from  the 
door,  to  say  nothing  of  giving  his  children  any- 
thing like  good  educational  advantages. 

Joseph  attended  school  for  a  while  in  Virgina, 
but  it  was  not  a  good  school,  and  when  his  father 
removed  to  the  West,  in  1857,  Joseph  had  not  ad- 
vanced much  further  than  the  "First  Reader." 
Our  subject  was  sixteen  then  and  suffered  a  great 
misfortune  in  the  loss  of  his  mother.  After  the 


death  of  Mrs.  Fifer,  which  occurred  in  Missouri, 
the  family  returned  to  Virgina,  but  remained  only 
a  short  time,  as  during  the  same  year  Mr.  Fifer 
came  to  Illinois.  He  settled  in  McLean  County 
and  started  a  brickyard.  Here  Joseph  and  his 
brothers  were  put  to  work.  The  elder  Mr.  Fifer  soon 
bought  a  farm  near  Bloomington  and  began  life 
as  an  agriculturist.  Here  Joe  worked  and  attended 
the  neighboring  school.  He  alternated  farm- work, 
and  brick-laying,  going  to  the  district  school  for 
the  succeeding  few  years.  It  was  all  work  and  no 
play  for  Joe,  yet  it  by  no  means  made  a  dull  boy 
of  him.  All  the  time  he  was  thinking  of  the  great 
world  outside,  of  which  he  had  caught  a  glimpse 
when  coming  from  Virginia,  yet  he  did  not  know 
just  how  he  was  going  to  get  out  into  it.  He 
could  not  feel  that  the  woods  around  the  new  farm 
and  the  log  cabin,  in  which  the  family  lived,  were 
to  hold  him. 

The  opportunity  to  get  out  into  the  world  was 
soon  offered  to  young  Joe.  He  traveled  a  dozen 
miles  barefoot,  in  company  with  his  brother  George, 
and  enlisted  in  Company  C,  Thirty-third  Illinois 
Infantry,  he  being  then  twenty  years  old.  In  a 
few  days,  the  regiment  was  sent  to  Camp  Butler, 
and  then  over  into  Missouri,  and  saw  some  vigor- 
ous service  there.  After  a  second  time  helping  to 
chase  Price  out  of  Missouri,  the  Thirty-third  Regi- 


184 


JOSEPH  W.  FIFER. 


ment  went  down  to  Milliken's  Bend,  and  for  several 
weeks  "Private  Joe"  worked  on  Grant's  famous 
ditch.  The  regiment  then  joined  the  forces  oper- 
ating against  Port  Gibson  and  Vicksburg.  Joe 
•was  on  guard  duty  in  the  front  ditches  when  the 
flag  of  surrender  was  run  up  on  the  4th  of  July, 
and  stuck  the  bayonet  of  his  gun  into  the  embank- 
ment and  went  into  the  city  with  the  vanguard  of 
Union  soldiers. 

The  next  day,  July  5,  the  Thirty-third  joined 
the  force  after  Johnston,  who  had  been  threatening 
Grant's  rear;  and  finally  an  assault  was  made  on  him 
at  Jackson,  Miss.  In  this  charge  "Private  Joe"  fell, 
terribly  wounded.  He  was  loading  his  gun,  when 
a  minie-ball  struck  him  and  passed  entirely 
through  his  body.  He  was  regarded  as  mortally 
wounded.  His  brother,  George,  who  had  been 
made  a  Lieutenant,  proved  to  be  the  means  of  sav- 
ing his  life.  The  Surgeon  told  him  that  unless  he 
had  ice  his  brother  could  not  live.  It  was  fifty  miles 
to  the  nearest  point  where  ice  could  be  obtained, 
and  the  roads  were  rough.  A  comrade,  a  McLean 
County  man,  who  had  been  wounded,  offered  to 
make  the  trip.  An  ambulance  was  secured  and 
the  brother  soldier  started  on  the  journey.  He  re- 
turned with  the  ice,  but  the  trip,  owing  to  the 
roughness  of  the  road,  was  very  hard  on  him.  Af- 
ter a  few  months'  careful  nursing,  Mr.  Fifer  was  able 
to  come  home.  The  Thirty-third  came  home  on  a 
furlough,  and  when  the  boys  were  ready  to  return 
to  the  tented  field,  young  Fifer  was  ready  to  go 
with  them ,  for  he  was  determined  to  finish  his 
term  of  three  years.  He  was  mustered  out  in  Oct- 
ober, 1864,  having  been  in  the  service  three  years 
and  two  months. 

"Private  Joe"  came  out  of  the  army  a  tall,  tan- 
ned, and  awkward  young  man  of  twenty-four. 
About  all  he  possessed  was  ambition  to  be  some- 
body— and  pluck.  Though  at  an  age  when  most 
men  have  finished  their  college  course,  the  young 
soldier  saw  that  if  he  was  to  be  anybody  he  must 
have  an  education.  Yet  he  had  no  means  to  ena- 
ble him  to  enter  school  as  most  young  men  do. 
He  was  determined  to  have  an  education,  however, 
and  that  to  him  meant  success.  For  the  following 
four  years  he  struggled  with  his  books.  He  en- 


tered Wesleyan  University  January  1,  1865.  He 
was  not  a  brilliant  student,  being  neither  at  the 
head  nor  at  the  foot  of  his  class.  He  was  in  great 
earnest,  however,  studied  hard  and  came  forth  with 
a  well-stored  and  disciplined  mind. 

Immediately  after  being  graduated,  he  entered 
an  office  at  Bloomington  as  a  law  student.  He 
had  previously  read  law  a  little,  and  as  he  continued 
to  work  hard,  with  the  spur  of  poverty  and  prompt- 
ings of  ambition  ever  with  him,  he  was  ready  to 
hang  out  his  professional  shingle  in  1869.  Being 
trustworthy,  he  soon  gathered  about  him  some  in- 
fluential friends.  In  1871  he  was  elected  Corpora- 
tion Counsel  of  Bloomington.  In  1872  he  was 
elected  State's  Attorney  of  McLean  County.  This 
office  he  held  eight  years,  when  he  took  his  seat  in 
the  State  Senate.  He  served  for  four  years.  His 
ability  to  perform  abundance  of  hard  work  made 
him  a  most  valued  member  of  the  Legislature. 

Mr.  Fifer  was  married  in  1870  to  Gertie,  daugh- 
ter of  William  J.  Lewis,  of  Bloomington.  Mr.  Fifer 
is  six  feet  i  n  height  and  is  spare,  weigh!  ng  only  one 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  He  has  a  swarthy  com- 
plexion, keen  black  eyes,  quick  movement,  and  pos- 
sesses a  frank  and  sympathetic  nature,  and  natur- 
lly  makes  friends  wherever  he  goes.  During  the 
late  gubernatorial  campaign  his  visits  throughout 
the  State  proved  a  great  power  in  his  behalf.  His 
faculty  of  winning  the  confidence  and  good  wishes 
of  those  with  whom  he  comes  in  personal  contact 
is  a  source  of  great  popularity,  especially  during  a 
political  battle.  As  a  speaker  he  is  fluent,  his  lan- 
guage is  good,  voice  clear  and  agreeable,  and  man- 
ner forcible.  His  manifest  earnestness  in  what  he 
says,  as  well  as  his  tact  as  a  public  speaker,  and  his 
eloquent  and  forceful  language,  make  him  a  most 
valuable  campaign  orator  and  a  powerful  pleader 
at  the  bar.  At  the  Republican  State  Convention, 
held  in  May,  1888,  Mr.  Fifer  was  chosen  as  its 
candidate  for  Governor.  He  proved  a  popular 
nominee,  and  the  name  of  "Private  Joe"  became 
familiar  to  everyone  throughout  the  State.  He 
waged  a  vigorous  campaign,  was  elected  by  a  good 
majority,  and  in  due  time  assumed  the  duties  of 
the  Chief  Executive  of  Illinois. 


!*•  Library 

of  the 
of  Iflh 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


I1. 


)HN  P.  ALTGELD,  the  present 
Governor  of  Illinois,  is  a  native 
of  Prussia,  born  in  1848.  Shortly 
after  his  birth  his  parents  emi- 
grated to  America,  locating  on 
a  farm  near  Mansfield,  Ohio. 
When  but  a  mere  lad,  young 
Altgeld  had  to  walk  from  the 
farm  to  Mansfield  with  butter, 
eggs  and  garden  produce,  which 
he  peddled  from  house  to  house. 
About  1856,  his  parents  moved 
to  the  city  of  Mansfield,  and  for 
a  time  our  subject  was  engaged 
morning  and  evening  in  driv- 
ing cattle  to  and  from  the  pas- 
ture, a  distance  of  eight  miles.  When  fourteen 
years  of  age  he  hired  out  as  a  farm  hand,  and  con- 
tinued in  that  avocation  the  greater  part  of  his 
time  until  he  was  sixteen  years  of  age,  when  he 
enlisted  in  Company  C,  One  Hundred  and  Sixty- 
fourth  Ohio  Infantry,  and  served  until  the  close  of 
the  war.  On  being  mustered  in,  the  regiment  was 
sent  to  Washington  and  was  actively  engaged  in 
the  various  campaigns  in  and  around  that  city 
until  the  surrender  of  Lee.  In  the  fall  of  1864, 
young  Altgeld  was  taken  sick,  while  with  his  regi- 
ment in  the  front,  and  the  surgeon  desired  to  send 
him  to  a  hospital  iu  Washington;  but  he  asked  to 


be  allowed  to  remain  with  the  regiment,  and  soon 
recovering  from  his  sickness  was  actively  engaged 
until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  mustered  out 
at  Columbus,  Ohio,  in  the  spring  of  1865.  The 
succeeding  summer  he  worked  with  his  father  on 
a  farm,  during  which  time  he  became  connected 
with  the  Sunday-school  and  was  given  charge  <)i 
the  Bible  class.  Before  entering  the  army  he  had 
but  very  limited  educational  advantages,  having 
attended  school  but  a  part  of  two  summers  and 
one  winter.  He  had  at  home,  however,  studied 
the  German  language  and  had  become  familiar 
with  some  German  authors.  Determining  to  fit 
himself  for  a  useful  life,  he  resolved  to  attend  a 
select  school  at  Lexington,  Ohio,  and  in  a  little 
eight-by-ten  room,  meagrely  furnished,  he  kept 
"bachelor's  hall,"  and  in  time  was  so  far  advanced 
that  he  secured  a  certificate  as  teacher,  and  for 
two  years  was  engaged  in  that  profession.  At  the 
end  of  that  time  he  left  home  and  traveled  exten- 
sively over  the  country,  working  at  odd  jobs,  un- 
til he  finally  reached  Savannah,  Mo.,  where  he  en- 
tered a  law  office,  and  in  1870  was  admitted  to  the 
Bar.  In  the  fall  of  1872,  he  ran  as  .».  rosecuting 
Attorney  for  Andrews  County,  Mo.,  and  was  de- 
feated by  four  votes.  He  ran  again  in  1874  and 
was  elected.  But  life  in  the  small  town  of  Savan- 
nah was  a  little  too  monotonous  for  him,  and  he 
determined  to  locate  in  Chicago.  In  October, 


JOHN  P.  ALTOELD. 


1875,  be  resigned  the  office  of  Prosecuting  Attor- 
ney, moved  to  Chicago,  and  at  once  commenced 
the  practice  of  law.  For  some  years  after  he  had 
but  little  to  do  with  politics,  confining  himself  to 
his  practice  and  dealing  in  real  estate.  One  year 
after  his  arrival  in  Chicago  he  found  himself  with- 
out a  dollar,  and  in  debt  some  $400.  By  a  streak  of 
good  luck,  as  it  might  be  termed,  he  won  a  case  in 
court,  from  which  he  received  a  fee  of  $900,  and 
after  paying  his  debt  he  had  $500  left,  which  he 
invested  in  real  estate.  This  venture  proved  a 
successful  one,  and  from  that  time  on  the  profits 
of  one  transaction  were  invested  in  others,  and 
to-day  he  is  numbered  among  the  millionaire  resi- 
dents of  the  great  metropolis  of  the  West. 

In  1884,  Mr.  Altgeld  was  nominated  for  Con- 
gress, but  was  defeated  by  three  thousand  votes. 
In  1886,  he  was  nominated  and  elected  Judge  of 
the  Superior  Court  of  Cook  County.  His  services 
as  Judge  were  such  as  to  commend  him  to  the  peo- 
ple. Early  in  the  year  1892,  by  the  solicitation  of 


many  friends,  he  announced  himself  as  a  candi- 
date for  Governor.  At  the  convention  held 
April  27,  he  received  the  nomination  and  at  once 
en  tered  upon  an  active  canvass.  Alon  e,  he  traveled 
all  over  the  en  tire  State,  and  visited  and  consulted 
with  the  leading  politicians  of  every  section.  lie 
made  few  public  speeches,  however,  until  near  the 
close  of  the  campaign,  but  it  was  very  evident  that 
he  was  master  of  the  situation  at  all  times.  When 
the  votes  were  counted  at  the  close  of  election 
day,  it  was  found  that  he  had  a  majority  of  the 
votes,  and  so  became  the  first  Democratic  Governor 
of  Illinois  since  1856. 

Born  in  poverty,  alone,  single-handed  and  un- 
aided, he  faced  the  world,  and  with  a  determina- 
tion to  succeed,  he  pressed  forward,  until  to-day  he 
has  a  National  reputation,  and  is  the  envied  of 
many.  The  lesson  of  his  life  is  worthy  of  careful 
study  by  the  young,  and  shows  what  can  be  done 
by  one  who  has  the  desire  in  his  heart  to  attain  a 
front  rank  among  the  noted  men  of  the  country. 


CHRISTIAN  COUNTY, 


ILLINOIS. 


INTRODUCTORY 


JHE  time  has  arrived  when  it 
becomes  the  duty  of  the 
people  of  this  county  to  per- 
petuate the  names  of  their 
pioneers,  to  furnish  a  record 
of  their  early  settlement, 
and  relate  the  story  of  their 
progress.  The  civilization  of  our 
day,  the  enlightenment  of  the  age 
and  the  duty  that  men  of  the  pres- 
ent time  owe  to  their  ancestors,  to 
themselves  and  to  their  posterity, 
demand  that  a  record  of  their  lives 
and  deeds  should  be  made.  In  bio- 
graphical history  is  found  a  power 
to  instruct  man  by  precedent,  to 
enliven  the  mental  faculties,  and 
to  waft  down  the  river  of  time  a 
safe  vessel  in  which  the  names  and  actions  of  the 
people  who  contributed  to  raise  this  country  from  its 
primitive  state  may  be  preserved.  Surely  and  rapidly 
the  great  and  aged  men,  who  in  their  prime  entered 
the  wilderness  and  claimed  the  virgin  soil  as  their 
heritage,  are  passing  to  their  graves.  The  number  re- 
maining who  can  relate  the  incidents  of  the  first  days 
of  settlement  is  becoming  small  indeed,  so  that  an 
actual  necessity  exists  for  the  collection  and  preser- 
vation of  events  without  delay,  before  all  the  early 
settlers  are  cut  down  by  the  scythe  of  Time. 

To  be  forgotten  has  been  the  great  dread  of  mankind 
from  remotest  ages.  All  will  be  forgotten  soon  enough, 
in  spite  of  their  best  works  and  the  most  earnest 
efforts  of  their  friends  to  perserve  the  memory  of 
their  lives.  The  means  employed  to  prevent  oblivion 
and  to  perpetuate  their  memory  has  been  in  propor- 
tion to  the  amount  of  intelligence  they  possessed. 
Trn  pyramids  of  Egypt  were  built  to  perpetuate  the 
names  and  deeds  of  their  great  rulers.  The  exhu- 
mations made  by  the  archeologists  of  Egypt  from 
buried  Memphis  indicate  a  desire  of  those  people 


to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  their  achievements 
The  erection  of  the  great  obelisks  were  for  the  same 
purpose.  Coming  down  to  a  later  period,  we  find  the 
Greeks  and  Romans  erecting  mausoleums  and  monu- 
ments, and  carving  out  statues  to  chronicle  their 
great  achievements  and  carry  them  down  the  ages. 
It  is  also  evident  that  the  Mound-builders,  in  piling 
up  their  great  mounds  of  earth,  had  but  this  idea — 
to  leave  something  to  show  that  they  had  lived.  All 
these  works,  though  many  of  them  costly  in  the  ex- 
treme, give  but  a  faint  idea  of  the  lives  and  charac- 
ters of  those  whose  memory  they  were  intended  to 
perpetuate,  and  scarcely  anything  of  the  masses  o< 
the  people  that  then  lived.  <  The  great  pyramids  and 
some  of  the  obelisks  remain  objects  only  of  curiosity ; 
the  mausoleums,  monuments  and  statues  are  crum- 
bling into  dust. 

It  was  left  to  modern  ages  to  establish  an  intelli- 
gent, undecaying,  immutable  method  of  perpetuating 
a  full  history — immutable  in  that  it  is  almost  un- 
limited in  extent  and  perpetual  in  its  action ;  and 
this  is  through  the  art  of  printing. 

To  the  present  generation,  however,  we  are  in- 
debted for  the  introduction  of  the  admirable  system 
of  local  biography.  By  this  system  every  man,  thougr 
he  has  not  achieved  what  the  world  calls  greatness, 
has  the  means  to  perpetuate  his  life,  his  history, 
through  the  coming  ages. 

The  scythe  of  Time  cuts  down  all ;  nothing  of  the 
physical  man  is  left.  The  monument  which  his  chil- 
dren or  friends  may  erect  to  his  memory  in  the  ceme^ 
tery  will  crumble  into  dust  and  pass  away;  but  his 
life,  his  achievements,  the  work  he  has  accomplished, 
which  otherwise  would  be  forgotten,  is  perpetuated 
by  a  record  of  this  kind. 

To  preserve  the  lineaments  of  our  companions  we 
engrave  their  portraits,  for  the  same  reason  we  col- 
lect the  attainable  facts  of  their  history.  Nor  do  we 
think  it  necessary,  as  we  speak  only  truth  of  them,  to 
wait  until  they  are  dead,  or  until  those  who  know 
them  are  gone:  to  do  this  we  are  ashamed  only  to 
publish  to  the  world  the  history  of  those  whose  live? 
are  unworthy  of  public  record. 


Til*  Library 
of  th« 
0<  Illlr 


BIOGRAPHICAL. 


&ILLIAM  W.  ANDERSON,  whose  name  is 
intimately  connected  with  every  interest 
tending  to  advance  the  financial,  social  or 
moral  condition  of  the  community  in  which  he 
lives,  whose  personality  is  closely  interwoven  with 
local  affairs,  and  whose  counsel  has  in  many  re- 
spects shaped  the  course  of  events  in  Christian 
County,  is  President  of  the  First  National  Bank 
of  Ta3'lorville  and  is  a  prominent  figure  in  many 
other  busness  enterprises;  besides  which  he  is 
closely  identified  witli  public  affairs  and  every  en- 
terprise calculated  to  promote  the  general  welfare. 
A  man  of  high  character,  his  thousands  of  warm 
personal  friends  will  find  pleasure  in  close  inspec- 
tion of  the  excellent  steel  engraving  of  him  found 
in  this  volume.  The  pleasant  expression  of  coun- 
tenance is  faithfully  reproduced  in  most  artistic 
lines,  and  the  indication  of  years  of  development, 
of  the  generous  manhood,  and  of  the  warmth  of 
friendship  and  love  of  right-dealing  and  justice 
that  have  endeared  him  to  every  resident  of  Chris- 
tian County,  are  all  found  preserved  in  such  del- 
icate and  yet  permanent  form  that  lapse  of  time 
cannot  efface  them. 

The  Anderson  family  is  of  Scotch-Irish  origin, 
and  was  established  in  the  South,  probably  in  Vir- 
ginia, in  early  Colonial  days.  It  is  known  that 
both  the  paternal  and  maternal  grandfathers  of 
William  W.  were  soldiers  during  the  memorable 
struggle  for  the  independence  of  the  Colonies,  and 
that  his  father,  George  II.  Anderson,  served  un- 
der Gen.  Jackson  in  the  later  conflict  with  Great 


Britain  and  was  present  at  the  battle  of  New  Or- 
leans. He  was  married  in  Tennessee,  not  many 
years  after  the  return  of  peace,  to  Miss  Nancy- 
Mann.  They  soon  after  migrated  to  Henderson 
County,  Ky.,  where  they  resided  for  ten  years,  and 
where  our  subject  was  born  October  27,  1825. 
When  he  was  a  lad  of  five  years,  the  family  came 
to  Illinois,  and  settled  two  miles  east  of  Hillsboro, 
Montgomery  County.  There  George  Anderson 
reared  his  family,  developed  a  comfortable  home, 
and  acted  his  part  in  the  growth  of  the  new  coun- 
try. He  was  honored  by  the  most  responsible 
local  offices  of  the  time,  being  a  man  of  varied 
experience,  well  read  for  his  time,  and  he  is  re- 
membered by  the  pioneers  as  a  man  of  generous 
impulses  and  strong  character.  He  died  at  the  age 
ot  sixty -one.  His  widow,  a  woman  whose  impress 
was  early  stamped  upon  the  minds  of  her  children, 
survived  her  husband  about  twelve  years. 

Their  family  numbered  twelve  children,  of  whom 
William  is  the  sixth  in  order  of  birth,  and  one  of 
four  yet  living,  all  residing  in  this  county.  The 
days  of  his  boyhood  were  noted  for  their  meagre 
privileges  for  education,  and  what  education  he 
received  was  in  one  of  the  first  log  schoolhouses 
built  in  Montgomery  County.  The  demands  of 
the  farm  were  such  that  he  was  required  to  assist 
in  the  labors  of  the  field  when  but  a  lad  of  nine, 
and  his  attention  was  almost  constantly  given  to 
home  duties  until  he  had  reached  his  seventeenth 
year.  He  then  entered  the  employ  of  Judge  Hiram 
Rountree,  of  Hillsboro.  He  remained  in  the  em- 


200 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


ploy  of  Judge  Rountree  for  eight  years,  first  work- 
ing on  the  farm,  then  in  the  store,  and  assisting  in 
his  office  while  he  was  Circuit  Clerk  of  Montgom- 
ery County.  He  was  married  to  Miss  Nan  B. 
Rountree,  a  daughter  of  Judge  Rountree,  in  Aug- 
ust, 1850. 

The  following  year  they  came  to  Christian 
County,  and  Mr.  Anderson  assumed  charge  of  a 
farm  four  miles  east  of  Taylorville.  The  farm  did 
not  satisfy  his  nature,  as  his  tastes  led  in  the  di- 
rection of  mercantile  life,  he  being  educated  in  that 
direction  while  in  the  store  of  the  Judge  in  Hills- 
boro.  Accordingly,  after  three  years,  when  har- 
vests were  not  sufficiently  abundant  to  satisfy  his 
business  sense,  he  left  the  farm,  removing  to  Tay- 
lorville, and  we  soon  find  him  installed  as  a  sales- 
man in  the  dry-goods  store  of  Shumway  &  Cheney. 
Mr.  Cheney  died  in  January,  1854,  and  his  broth- 
er-in-law, Albert  Sattley,  whose  figure  is  still  a  fa- 
miliar one  on  the  streets  of  Taylorville,  succeeded 
to  the  Cheney  interest,  and  he  in  turn  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Mr.  Anderson.  The  firm  of  Shum- 
way <fc  Anderson  continued  for  about  two  3rears, 
when  Mr.  Anderson  became  sole  proprietor  of  the 
constantly  increasing  business.  He  carried  an  ex- 
tensive stock  of  goods,  ranging  from  threshing- 
machines  to  the  most  delicate  dress  fabrics,  as  de- 
manded by  the  trade  of  the  day.  The  financial 
depression  of  1857,  the  worst  in  American  histoiy, 
coming  so  soon  after  his  embarkation  upon  the 
seas  of  mercantile  life,  was  a  test  of  business  abil- 
ity that  gave  him  ample  opportunity  for  meeting 
the  many  demands  incident  to  hard  times.  By 
judicious  selection  of  goods,  untiring  attention  to 
delinquents,  and  universal  courtesy  to  patrons,  he 
succeeded  in  passing  through  that  trying  period, 
and  his  success  was  ample  proof  of  his  business 
ability.  Henceforth  he  was  considered  by  all  one 
of  the  cleverest  and  most  successful  merchants  of 
the  county.  During  the  succeeding  decade  his 
business  assumed  immense  proportions,  and  his 
standing,  not  only  among  his  friends  at  home,  but 
among  the  large  wholesale  houses,  was  such  that 
it  was  possible  for  him  to  conduct  much  the  larg- 
est business  of  any  firm  in  a  large  radius  of 
territory. 

After  fifteen  years  of  close  attention  to  these  ex- 


tensive interests,  Mr.  Anderson  disposed  of  a  part 
of  his  establishment  and  placed  his  brother  in 
charge  of  the  boot  and  shoe  department,  thus  plac- 
ing his  mercantile  interests  in  shape  to  admit  of 
his  devoting  personal  attention  to  another  line  of 
business,  to  which  his  tastes  naturally  led  him, 
and  which  was  the  logical  outgrowth  of  a  suc- 
cessful career.  Accordingly,  in  the  year  1871, 
he  established  the  banking  house  of  W.  W.  An- 
derson &  Co.,  his  partner  being  another  one  of 
the  most  capable  business  men  of  Taylorville,  D. 
D.  Shumway.  The  well-known  carefulness  and 
ability  of  the  proprietors  assured  a  substantial 
business,  and  the  confidence  of  the  public  was 
fully  accorded  the  new  institution.  The  partner- 
ship as  indicated  continued  with  most  pleasant  re- 
lations for  twelve  years,  when  Mr.  Shumway  re- 
tired and  Mr.  Anderson's  son,  Hiram  R.,  became 
partner  with  his  father.  He  was  a.  young  man  of 
brilliant  mind,  a  close  student,  and  a  general  fav- 
orite with  friends  of  the  bank,  who  rejoiced  to  see 
him  advanced  in  responsible  positions.  On  the 
1st  of  November,  1886,  the  bank  passed  into  its 
present  form,  being  incorporated  as  the  First  Na- 
tional Bank  of  Taylorville,  with  a  capital  of  $75,- 
000.  W.  W.  Anderson  became  President;  A.  L. 
Augur,  of  Mt.  Auburn,  Vice- President;  and  H.  R. 
Anderson,  Cashier.  Its  Directors  were  W.  W.  An- 
derson, A.  L.  Augur,  J.  G.  Drennan,  N.  D.  Ricks, 
Matthew  Kavanaugh,  John  White,  R.  M.  Powel, 
G.  R.  Sharp  and  H.  R.  Anderson.  Of  these,  Messrs. 
Sharp,  Powel,  White  and  H.  R.  Anderson  are  now 
deceased.  The  present  Board  of  Directors  is  com- 
posed of  the  following:  W.  W.  Anderson,  Presi- 
dent; A.  L.  Augur,  Vice-President;  Mat  Kava- 
naugh, W.  M.  Pi-ovine,  Hiram  White,  J.  N.  C. 
Shumway,  J.  C.  McBride,  D.  D.  Shumway  and  F. 
W.  Anderson.  The  latter  is  the  present  Cashier, 
and  E.  R.  Wright  is  Assistant  Cashier.  Mr.  An- 
derson began  business  on  his  present  site  in  1871, 
and  carried  on  operations  in  his  first  building  un- 
til 1884,  when  the  present  building  was  erected. 
The  bank  is  supplied  with  a  McNeale  &  Urban 
safe,  with  the  Fowler  door  attachment,  and  the 
other  furnishings  are  complete  in  all  appointments. 
The  First  National  Bank  is  a  conservative  and 
substantial  institution,  run  on  a  perfectly  safe 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


201 


basis,  and  is  doing  a  good  business,  having  now  a 
capital  and  surplus  of  $100,000. 

Every  venture  to  which  Mr.  Anderson  has  de- 
voted personal  attention  has  prospered  to  an  emi- 
nent degree,  and  his  foresightedness  in  making  in- 
vestments have  borne  out  the  views  that  he  had 
formerly  advanced.  He  served  for  two  years  as 
President  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors.  He  has 
had  a  firm  belief  in  the  future  of  Taylorville,  not 
Only  as  the  county  seat  and  on  account  of  its  ex- 
tensive country  trade,  but  as  a  coal-producing 
point,  and  soon  to  become  a  manufacturing  center. 
He  has  invested  largely  in  business  property,  and 
is  now  owner  of  one-half  the  frontage  on  the 
south  side  of  the  square.  He  has  always  advo- 
cated the  advantages  of  railroad  facilities,  and 
was  one  of  the  promoters  and  at  one  time  Direc- 
tor of  the  Ohio  &  Mississippi  Railway,  which  pass- 
es through  the  county,  giving  a  direct  outlet  to 
the  East.  He  has  always  taken  an  interest  in,  and 
frequently  furthered,  legitimate  means  of  building 
up  his  home  town,  and  in  no  little  degree  to  him 
is  owing  the  present  advantages  the  city  enjoys  in 
its  excellent  system  of  electric  lighting,  its  water 
works  and  its  ample  hotel  accommodations.  His 
means,  advice  and  energy  were  called  upon  and 
freely  given  when  its  extensive  coal  fields  were 
developed,  and  thus  a  permanent  basis  of  growth 
and  prosperity  was  assured  to  the  city.  Prosper- 
ing to  an  unusual  degree,  he  has  been  blessed  with 
ample  means,  which,  unlike  some  moneyed  men, 
he  has  liberally  devoted  to  progressive  uses.  A 
member  and  Trustee  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  he  has  been  a  ready  supporter  of  church 
interests.  A  Royal  Arch  Mason,  he  is  held  in  high 
esteem  by  all  brother  Masons,  though  his  gifts  to 
charity  are  not  circumscribed  by  any  bounds  of 
fraternal  character,  for  he  recognizes  the  rights 
and  obligations  that  man  owes  to  man  on  the 
broad  plane  of  universal  brotherhood.  Politically, 
Mr.  Anderson  has  been  a  life-long  supporter  of 
thii  Democratic  party,  but  has  preferred  to  devote 
his  attention  to  private,  rather  than  to  public, 
business,  and  hence  has  never  sought  honors  at  the 
hands  of  the  party. 

Only  four  years  after  his  marriage,  Mr.  Anderson 
was  called  upon  to  mourn  the  death  of  his  com- 


panion, whose  only  child  had  died  in  infancy. 
This  was  a  blow  whose  sorrow  only  years  of  busi- 
ness activity  could  mitigate.  When  prosperity 
had  come  to  him,  he  again  felt  the  need  of  loving 
words-  and  womanly  counsel,  and  in  1860  he  made 
Martha  L.  Wright,  widow  of  Dr.  Wright,  of  Car- 
linville,  his  wife.  She  was  a  woman  of  estimable 
character,  and  proved  a  valuable  companion  and 
helpmate  on  life's  journey.  She,  too,  was  taken 
from  him  after  a  companionship  of  nearly  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century,  her  death  occurring  August  2, 
1884,  at  the  age  of  fifty-four  years.  Unto  them 
were  born  five  children:  Hiram  R.,  who  was  Cash- 
ier in  the  First  National  Bank,  and  died  September 
4,  1891,  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine  years;  Nannie 
West,  who  died  in  childhood;  Fred  W.,  who  is 
now  serving  as  Cashier;  Grace  E.,  wife  of  F.  C. 
Hawley,  of  the  Paddock-Hawley  Iron  Company, 
of  St.  Louis;  and  Julia  W.,  a  young  lady  of  nine- 
teen, who  is  now  a  student  in  the  Auburndale 
Seminary,  of  Boston,  from  which  she  will  graduate 
in  the  Class  of  '94. 


JAMES  H.  HAYES,  who  is  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  brick  in  Taylorville,  began 
operations  here  in  this  line  in  1889.  He  at 
that  time  established  the  business  now  oper- 
ated by  Hoover  &  Michels.  After  carrying  it  on 
for  two  years  he  disposed  of  it  to  that  firm,  and  in 
1891  established  his  present  yard.  That  year  he 
manufactured  eight  hundred  thousand  brick,  and 
in  1892  one  million  four  hundred  thousand.  He 
has  five  acres  of  land,  and  in  the  manufacture 
employs  about  fifteen  men.  He  uses  the  Palet 
system  of  making  mud-sand  brick,  his  machinery 
is  complete  in  all  its  appointments,  and  the  daily 
output  is  from  ten  to  fifteen  thousand.  Having 
used  up  the  clay  at  the  present  location,  he  expects 
to  remove  a  mile  southwest,  where  he  has  thirty- 
one  acres  of  clay  land,  increase  the  plant  and 
greatly  enlarge  the  works.  To  the  manufacture 
of  building  brick  he  will  add  that  of  paving,  or 


202 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


vitrified,  brick.  Mr.  Hayes  is  numbered  among 
the  leading  brick  manufacturers  of  central  Illinois 
and  lias  built  up  an  extensive  business,  being  now 
at  the  head  of  one  of  the  leading  industries  of  the 
county. 

As  one  of  Taylorville's  leading  and  influential 
citizens,  we  are  pleased  to  record  the  life  work  of 
our  subject  in  this  volume.  He  was  born  in 
Decatur,  111.,  on  the  21st  of  February,  1854,  and 
was  reared  in  that  city  and  in  Cerro  Gordo.  His 
father,  J.  E.  Hayes,  was  a  native  of  Ohio,  and 
emigrated  from  the  Buckeye  State  to  Illinois  in 
November,  1851.  By  occupation  he  was  a  farmer, 
and  followed  that  business  throughout  his  entire 
life.  His  death  occurred  on  the  2d  of  May, 
1892,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years.  His  wife, 
who  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Sarah  Sell,  was  also 
a  native  of  Ohio,  and  is  now  living  in  Cerro 
Gordo,  111. 

Mr.  Hayes,  whose  name  heads  this  record,  is  a 
self-made  man,  who  has  been  dependent  upon  his 
own  resources  since  the  early  age  of  thirteen.  At 
that  time  he  began  working  in  the  brickyards,  and 
was  thus  employed  each  season  until  he  had 
attained  his  majority.  In  1880,  he  opened  a  brick- 
yard in  Cerro  Gordo,  making  the  first  brick  ever 
manufactured  at  that  place,  and  he  there  carried 
on  business  for  nine  years,  when  he  came  to  Taylor- 
ville.  He  spent  one  year  in  Texas  in  the  brick- 
yards at  Sherman,  Dennison  and  McKinney. 
When  he  went  to  Dennison  all  of  its  brickyards 
had  proved  a  failure  and  were  shut  down,  for  the 
brick  would  fall  to  pieces  as  soon  as  exposed  to 
the  air.  Mr.  Hayes  took  charge  of  a  yard  at  that 
place  and  introduced  the  method  of  mixing  sand 
with  the  clay.  The  process  met  with  success  from 
the  start,  and  the  result  is  that  Dennison  has  since 
proven  to  be  one  of  the  best  brick-making  points 
in  the  South.  The  trouble  had  been  that  only 
joint  clay  was  used,  and  sand  was  needed  to  pro- 
duce the  proper  consistency. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1884,  was  celebrated  the 
marriage  of  Mr.  Hayes  and  Miss  Elizabeth  Savage, 
of  Dallas,  Tex.,  a  native  of  England.  Five  chil- 
dren have  been  born  of  their  union:  Marion; 
Walter;  Frank,  who  died  in  infancy;  Louis  and 
Jennie.  They  have  a  pleasant  home,  which  is  the 


abode  of  hospitality,  and  their  friends  throughout 
the  community  are  many,  although  their  residence 
here  is  of  comparatively  short  duration.  Socially, 
Mr.  Hayes  is  a  member  of  the  Independent  Order 
of  Odd  Fellows  and  the  Encampment,  and  his 
wife  holds  membership  with  the  Christian  Church. 
In  politics,  he  is  an  inflexible  adherent  of  Repub- 
lican principles,  a  stanch  advocate  of  the  "Party  of 
Reform,"  and  is  now  efficiently  serving  as  a  member 
of  the  City  Council.  He  is  a  wide-awake  and 
enterprising  man,  full  of  life  and  activity,  and  his 
good  management  and  business  ability  have  made 
his  career  a  successful  one.  He  is  very  popular 
with  all  classes,  and  Taylorville  finds  in  him  a 
valued  citizen. 


SAMUEL  AINSWORTJI,  manager  of  the 
Taylorville  Mining  Company,  is  a  practical 
and  progressive  business  man,  whose  saga- 
city and  far-sightedness,  combined  with 
perseverance  and  well-directed  efforts,  have  made 
his  life  a  successful  one.  The  record  of  his  career 
is  as  follows:  A  native  of  England,  he  was  born 
in  Staffordshire,  on  the  8th  of  May,  1837,  and  is  a 
son  of  Jesse  and  Elizabeth  (Ashmore)  Ainsworth, 
who  were  also  natives  of  England.  The  paternal 
grandfather,  William  Ainsworth,  lived  in  Roches- 
ter, England,  and  reached  the  very  advanced  age 
of  one  hundred  and  one  years,  while  his  wife  passed 
away  at  the  ripe  old  age  of  ninety-nine  years. 
The  maternal  grandfather,  Samuel  Ashmore,  lived 
to  be  about  seventy,  and  his  wife  survived  him 
several  years. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  a  wheelwright  in 
England,  and  in  his  native  land  spent  his  entire 
life,  being  called  to  the  home  beyond  at  the  age 
of  fifty-six.  After  the  death  of  her  husband,  Mrs. 
Ainsworth  was  again  married.  Her  second  hus- 
band lost  his  mind  on  account  of  religion  and  died 
in  the  insane  asylum.  She  was  seventy-three 
vears  of  age  at  the  time  of  her  death.  Both  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Ainsworth  were  members  of  the  Church 


POETRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


21 1;; 


of  England,  and  took  a  very  active  part  in  all 
that  would  advance  its  best  interests.  Their  family 
numbered  twelve  children,  six  sons  and  six  daugh- 
ters, as  follows:  Walter;  William;  Samuel;  John; 
Arthur;  Jesse;  Sophia,  wife  of  Thomas  Hall;  Myra 
Ann,  wife  of  Enoch  Glass;  Mrs.  Harriet  Welch; 
Jane,  widow  of  Henry  Els  more;  Emily,  deceased; 
and  Hannah,  wife  of  John  Betz. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  spent  the  days  of  his 
boyhood  and  youth  in  the  land  of  his  nativity. 
His  early  years  were  quietly  passed,  no  event  of 
special  importance  occurring.  His  education  was 
acquired  in  the  public  schools.  After  arriving  at 
years  of  maturity,  he  chose  as  a  companion  and 
helpmate  on  life's  journey  Miss  Mary  Ann  Hall,  a 
daughter  of  Thomas  and  Lydia  (Smith)  Hall. 
Their  union  was  celebrated  on  the  13th  of  April, 
1857,  and  has  been  blessed  with  a  family  of  eleven 
children,  four  sons  and  seven  daughters.  Jesse, 
the  eldest,  married  Catherine  Jones  and  they  now 
reside  in  Lyons,  Kan.,  with  their  four  children: 
Samuel,  Jesse,  Ida  and  William.  Emma  is  the 
wife  of  Benjamin  Stringer,  of  Taylorville,  by 
whom  she  has  six  children:  Annie,  Benjamin, 
Grace,  Florence,  Jesse  and  Samuel  R.  Thomas 
married  Miss  Anna  Utley,  of  Collinsville,  and  they 
have  four  children:  Edith,  Myrtle,  John  and 
George.  Sophia  is  the  wife  of  David  Jones,  of 
Taylorville,  and  their  family  numbers  three  sons: 
David,  William  and  Albert.  Mary  Ann  is  the 
wife  of  Edwin  Taylor,  and  with  their  three  chil- 
dren, Edwin,  Clyde  and  Loretta,  they  reside  in 
Trenton,  Clinton  County,  111.  Edith  is  the -wife 
of  Frank  Auth,  of  Smithboro,  111.,  and  they  have 
one  child,  Mabel.  Samuel,  Nellie  and  Margaret 
Elizabeth  are  at  home,  and  two  children  died  in 
infancy. 

Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ains worth  are  adherents  of 
the  faith  of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  in  his  social 
relations  he  is  connected  with  Mattoon  Lodge 
No.  62,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.;  Mattoon  Chapter,  and 
Springfield  Commandery  No.  6,  K.  T.  He  is  also 
connected  with  Madison  Lodge  No.  43,  I.  O.  O.  F., 
of  Collinsville,  and  with  Mizpah  Lodge  No.  68,  K. 
P.,  of  Collinsville.  With  the  Miners'  Institute,  of 
Springfield,  111.,  he  also  holds  membership. 

In   1872,  Mr.  Amsworth  determined  to  seek  a 


home  in  America,  and,  crossing  the  Atlantic,  caine 
directly  to  Illinois,  where  he  has  lived  continuous- 
ly since,  with  the  exception  of  eight  months  spent 
in  Colorado.  Owing  to  the  general  depression  in 
business  prevailing  at  that  time,  Mr.  Ainsworth 
could  not  get  employment  for  some  months  after 
his  arrival.  It  was  in  March,  1875,  that  his  wife 
and  family  came  to  this  country  and  joined  him 
at  Rochester,  this  State.  He  has  sunk  numerous 
mines  in  various  places  in  Illinois.  Since  about 
fourteen  years  of  age,  he  has  been  connected  with 
mining,  and  thoroughly  understands  the  business 
in  all  its  details.  He  took  the  contract  for  sinking 
a  coal  shaft  of  the  Taylorville  Mining  Company 
in  1887.  This  shaft  is  over  five  hundred  feet 
deep.  The  vein  is  over  eight  feet  thick  and  yields 
a  splendid  quality  of  coal. 

Mr.  Ainsworth  has  been  successful  in  his  busi- 
ness career,  and  is  now  the  owner  of  eight  houses 
and  sixteen  lots  in  Taylorville.  He  has  made  the 
most  of  his  opportunities  and  privileges,  and  al- 
though he  has  had  to  depend  upon  his  own  efforts, 
he  is  now  in  comfortable  circumstances. 


<x  AVID  RIDGE.  Among  the  enterprising 
farmers  of  Assumption  Township  has  long 
been  numbered  our  subject,  who  dates  his 
residence  here  from  1859.  He  now  re- 
sides on  section  27,  where  he  carries  on  general 
farming.  He  has  spent  nearly  his  entire  life  in 
this  county,  as  he  was  a  child  of  only  five  years 
when  his  father  settled  here.  From  his  youth  he 
has  been  engaged  in  farming,  and  has  made  a  great 
success  of  agricultural  pursuits. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Greene  County,  111., 
April  28,  1854,  and  is  a  son  of  James  Ridge,  who 
was  born  in  Devonshire,  England.  The  father 
married  in  his  native  county  Miss  Sarah  Tucker, 
and  in  1851  crossed  the  Allan  tic,  settling  in  Greene 
County,  this  State,  where  he  engaged  in  farming 
for  several  years.  In  1859  he  purchased  laud  and 


204 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


opened  up  a  farm  on  section  21,  Christian  County, 
where  he  still  resides.  David  Ridge  remained 
with  his  parents  until  arriving  at  his  majority, 
and  was  given  good  common-school  advantages. 
In  1878  he  purchased  the  farm  which  he  is  still 
engaged  in  cultivating,  a  tract  of  one  hundred 
and  six  acres,  located  two  miles  from  the  village 
of  Assumption.  This  farm  is  fenced  with  a  nice 
and  well-trimmed  osage  hedgerow,  and  the  fields 
are  divided  in  like  manner.  The  owner  has  erected 
a  large  barn  and  remodeled  and  otherwise  im- 
proved the  house  on  the  place.  He  has  put  in 
considerable  tiling,  planted  orchards,  and  now 
finds  himself  in  the  possession  of  a  valuable  farm. 
He  may  truly  be  called  a  self-made  man,  for  he 
started  out  in  the  business  world  with  very  lim- 
ited means,  and  his  success  is  due  entirely  to  his 
own  labor  and  enterprise. 

On  the  9th  of  February,  1876,  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Ridge  and  Miss  Rebecca  Corzine  was  cele- 
brated. Mrs.  Ridge  is  a  native  of  Guernsey  County, 
Ohio,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Allen  Corzine,  of  As- 
sumption. To  our  worthy  subject  and  wife  have 
been  born  two  children,  William  Oscar  and  James 
Allen. 

Mrs.  Ridge  holds  membership  with  the  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Assumption,  and  is  a  lady  well 
received  in  social  circles.  Our  subject  has 
been  a  supporter  of  the  Republican  party  sine* 
casting  his  first  ballot  in  1876  for  Rutherford  B. 
Hayes.  He  gives  his  hearty  support  to  our  pub- 
lic-school system,  and  for  ten  consecutive  years 
has  served  as  a  member  of  the  School  Board. 


JOHN  G.  ADELHART  is  one  of  the   pros- 
perous  and    thrifty    agriculturists   of   As- 
sumption Township,  his  home  being  on  sec- 
tion 2.     He  is  an  example  of  the  self-made 
man,  as  he  Las  carved  out  a  fortune  for  himself 
single-handed.     He   has  been  a  resident  of  Chris- 
tian County  for  about  twenty  years,  and  during 
this  time  he  has  done  all  in  his  power  to  advance 


the  interests  of  the  community  in  which  he  dwells. 
A  native  of  Germany,  he  was  born  in  Bavaria, 
August  18, 1846.  He  received  a  good  education  in 
the  German  language,  and  early  formed  a  deter- 
mination to  emigrate  to  the  United  States.  For 
several  years  he  engaged  in  farming  in  Bavaria, 
but  in  1872  took  passage  in  a  sailing-vessel  at 
Hamburg,  and  in  due  time  landed  in  New  York, 
on  the  15th  of  June.  He  proceeded  directly  West- 
ward to  Illinois,  joining  an  elder  brother  who  was 
located  in  Nokomis.  For  about  three  years  Mr. 
Adelhart  worked  by  the  month,  and  then  bought 
a  piece  of  corn  in  the  field,  which  he  harvested, 
making  quite  a  profit  on  his  investment.  The 
following  year  he  rented  a  place  in  this  county  of 
Samuel  Winters,  which  he  farmed  for  one  year, 
and  then  rented  a  half-section  of  land,  and  in 
company  with  two  brothers  operated  this  land  for 
two  years.  For  several  successive  years  our  sub- 
ject continued  as  a  renter,  carefully  saving  his 
profits,  and  thus  in  1885  he  was  enabled  to  be- 
come a  land-owner  himself. 

In  1871,  previous  to  leaving  his  native  land, 
Mr.  Adelhart  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Elizabeth  Price,  who  has  proved  a  true  helpmate 
to  him  along  the  voyage  of  life.  Eight  children 
have  come  to  bless  their  home.  In  order  of  birth 
they  are  as  follows:  John,  Joseph,  Fred,  Robert, 
Peter,  Maggie,  Elizabeth  and  Helen.  Anna  died 
at  the  age  of  two  years.  The  children  have  been 
given  good  educations  in  the  Assumption  schools, 
and  the  two  older  sons  have  been  of  great  assist- 
ance to  him  on  the  farm.  The  family  are  mem- 
bers of  St.  Mary's  Catholic  Church,  of  Assump- 
tion. 

In  1885,  Mr.  Adelhart  became  the  owner  of  his 
present  valuable  farm  on  section  2.  This  place 
comprises  ninety  acres  adjoining  the  corporate 
limits  of  Assumption.  Our  subject  has  made  sub- 
stantial improvements  on  the  place,  has  erected  a 
large  and  pleasant  house,  with  barns  and  farm 
buildings,  and  set  out  an  orchard.  He  is  consid- 
ered one  of  the  thrifty  farmers  of  the  county,  and 
has  shown  that  he  possesses  practical  ideas  on  the 
subject  of  farming. 

In  his  political  opinions,  Mr.  Adelhart  is  a  strong 
Democrat  and  takes  great  interest  in  elections. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


205 


He  has,  however,  never  desired  office  for  himself, 
but  chooses  rather  to  give  his  entire  time  and  at- 
tention to  his  agricultural  duties.  He  is  a  man  of 
upright  character  and  has  made  many  friends  dur- 
ing his  residence  in  this  community. 


REDERICK  REULECKE  is  one  of  the  pro- 
gressive agriculturists  of  Assumption  Town- 
ship, his  home  being  on  section  28.  He  is 
one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Christian  County,  hav- 
ing located  on  the  farm  where  he  still  resides  in 
1867,  when  there  were  but  five  houses  between  his 
home  and  Taylorville.  He  is  a  native  of  Germany, 
born  in  Hanover  May  24,  1828.  After  receiving 
a  fair  education  in  his  mother  tongue,  he  learned 
the  gardener's  trade  and  then  concluded  to  emi- 
grate to  the  New  World.  In  1854,  he  took  pass- 
age at  Bremen  in  a  sailing-vessel,  and  at  the  end 
of  forty-two  days  arrived  at  his  destination,  New 
York  City.  He  worked  as  a  gardener  at  Freehold, 
N.  J.,  and  after  a  residence  there  of  two  years 
came  West  to  Illinois.  This  was  in  1856,  and  his 
first  settlement  was  in  Menard  County,  near  the 
town  of  Athens.  For  two  years  he  worked  by  the 
month  on  a  farm  for  a  Mr.  Kendall,  after  which 
he  rented  an  eighty-acre  farm,  which  he  carried  on 
for  ten  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  bought 
a  tract  of  forty  acres  in  this  county,  a  part  of  his 
present  farm,  and  flve  years  later  bought  an  ad- 
joining forty  acres.  In  time  he  erected  a  good 
residence  and  barn  and  planted  a  good  orchard  on 
the  place.  Other  improvements,  such  as  tiling, 
fencing,  etc.,  have  added  greatly  to  the  value  of 
the  farm.  It  is  one  of  the  most  thrifty  farms  of 
the  township,  and  the  osage  hedge  which  sur- 
rounds it  adds  much  to  its  appearance.  Mr.  Reul- 
ecke  is  now  well-to-do,  and  in  addition  to  his  home 
farm  owns  two  large  tenement  houses  in  Assump- 
tion. 

In  June,  1856,  our  subject  was  married  in  New 
York  to  Miss  Johanna  Helenberg,  who  was  born 
and  reared  in  Brunswick,  Germany.  She  was  en- 


gaged to  our  subject  at  the  time  of  his  leaving  the 
Fatherland,  and  according  to  agreement  came  to 
New  York  to  meet  him,  where  they  were  married. 
Four  daughters  have  blessed  this  union.  Louisa  is 
the  wife  of  James  Locke,  a  substantial  farmer  of 
this  county;  Mary  is  the  wife  of  L.  V.  Patton,  a 
farmer  who  is  now  carrying  on  the  Reulecke  farm; 
Emma  became  the  wife  of  Samuel  Michael,  of 
Shelby  County;  and  Maggie  is  Mrs.  Frank  Good- 
house,  her  husband  being  engaged  in  farming  in 
Shelby  County.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reulecke  have  also 
eight  grandchildren. 

In  regard  to  the  question  of  politics,  our  sub- 
ject is  a  Democrat.  His  first  Presidential  ballot 
was  cast  in  1856  for  James  Buchanan  and  he  has 
never  failed  to  vote  for  Democratic  nominees  for 
the  Presidency  since  that  time.  He  lias  served  as 
Highway  Commissioner,  but  has  preferred  to  de- 
vote his  attention  mainly  to  his  farm  and  business 
interests.  With  his  wife  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Lutheran  Church  in  Germany,  but  now  attends 
the  Presbyterian  Church.  During  his  long  resi- 
dence in  Illinois,  he  has  witnessed  vast  changes 
and  has  been  a  factor  in  her  progress  and  devel- 
opment. As  a  man  and  citizen  he  is  highly  re- 
spected in  this  and  adjoining  counties  and  has  the 
good-will  of  one  and  all. 


^H  HARLES  M.  MEREDITH,  a  grocer  of  Tay- 
[ff^-,  lorville,  is  one  of  Illinois'  native  sons,  for 

^dy  he  was  born  in  Sangamon  County,  on  the 
23d  of  July,  1839.  His  paternal  grandfather, 
Solomon  Meredith,  was  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers 
of  that  county.  He  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  and 
a  farmer  by  occupation.  Both  he  and  his  wife 
spent  their  last  days  in  Sangamon  County.  They 
reared  a  large  family,  one  of  whom,  Davis  Mere- 
dith, became  the  father  of  our  subject.  He  was 
born  in  Ohio,  and  when  a  young  man  came  to 
Illinois,  in  1835,  locating  in  Sangamon  County, 
nine  miles  south  of  Springfield,  where  he  is  still 
living.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  Black  Hawk  War. 


20G 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Upon  the  old  home  farm,  where  he  and  his  wife 
still  reside,  all  of  their  children  were  born.  He  is 
now  the  oldest  settler  living  in  Sangamon  County. 
Mrs.  Meredith  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Mary 
Newcomer.  She  too  is  a  native  of  the  Buckeye 
State,  as  was  her  father,  Christopher  Newcomer, 
who  came  with  his  family  to  Illinois  in  an  early 
day,  and  died  in  Sangamon  County. 

The  Meredith  family  numbered  seven  children, 
three  sons  and  four  daughters,  and  the  family 
circle  yet  remains  unbroken  by  the  hand  of  Death. 
Susan  is  now  the  wife  of  Drury  Jones;  Charles  is 
the  second  in  order  of  birth;  Mary  J.  is  the  wife 
of  J.  R.  Kincaid;  Sarah  is  the  wife  of  L.  R.  Hed- 
rick;  Christopher  Columbus,  Osborn  and  Fannie 
are  the  younger  members. 

We  now  take  up  the  personal  history  of  the 
gentleman  whose  name  heads  this  record.  The 
days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth  were  spent  in  the 
usual  manner  of  farmer  lads  upon  the  old  home- 
stead in  Sangamon  Count}'.  During  the  winter 
season  he  attended  the  district  schools  of  the 
neighborhood,  and  in  the  summer  months  aided  in 
the  labors  of  the  field,  giving  his  father  the  benefit 
of  his  services  until  the  war  broke  out,  when  he 
responded  to  the  country's  call  for  troops,  enlist- 
ing in  Company  E,  One  Hundred  and  Fourteenth 
Illinois  Infantry,  in  which  he  served  two  years 
and  eight  months.  He  participated  in  the  siege 
of  Vicksburg,  the  battles  of  Guntown  and  Jackson, 
and  a  number  of  other  engagements,  being  always 
found  at  his  post  of  duty. 

On  the  8th  of  March,  1861,  was  celebrated  the 
marriage  of  Mr.  Meredith  and  Miss  Laura,  daugh- 
ter of  Ozias  Wagner.  Four  children  were  born 
unto  them,  a  son  and  three  daughters,  but  Minnie 
and  Charles,  the  eldest  and  the  youngest  of  the 
family,  are  now  deceased.  Those  still  living  are 
Mary  and  Ida. 

When  Mr.  Meredith  returned  from  the  army,  he 
resumed  farming  in  Saugamon  County,  where  for 
a  number  of  years  he  continued  agricultural  pur- 
suits. In  1868,  he  came  to  Christian  County,  and 
for  one  year  followed  farming.  He  then  took  up 
his  residence  in  Taylorville,  and  during  the  suc- 
ceeding five  years  was  in  the  employ  of  Hatch  & 
Anderson,  dealers  in  agricultural  implements.  He 


then  embarked  in  the  clothing  business  in  company 
with  Charles  Dean,  but  this  venture  proved  a 
failure,  and  during  the  succeeding  nine  years  he 
was  employed  as  a  salesman  in  the  clothing-house 
of  Samuel  H.  Mossier.  On  the  expiration  of  that 
period  he  formed  a  partnership,  in  1888,  with  J. 
C.  Hunter,  and  they  opened  a  grocery  store,  under 
the  firm  name  of  Hunter  &  Meredith.  They  have 
since  successfully  engaged  in  business  and  are  now 
enjoying  a  good  trade. 

In  his  political  affiliations,  Mr.  Meredith  is  con- 
nected with  the  Republican  party.  Socially,  he  is 
connected  with  the  Knights  of  Pythias  and  the 
Odd  Fellows'  fraternity.  His  wife  is  a  member  of 
the  Christian  Church.  Mr.  Meredith  takes  a  com- 
mendable interest  in  all  public  affairs  calculated  to 
benefit  or  upbuild  the  community,  and  is  a  pro- 
gressive citizen,  who  is  alike  true  to  his  country  in 
times  of  peace  as  in  times  of  war. 


JOHN  O.  ROLLINS  was  bora   in   Hamblen 
County,  Tenn.,  May  22,  1856,  and  removed 
with  his  parents  to  Kentucky  when  he  was 
a  lad  of  ten  years.     For  about  fifteen  years 
he  has  been  a  resident  of  Christian  County,  and 
since  coming  here  has    acquired   a  desirable  farm 
and  a  comfortable  fortune.     His  pleasant  home  is 
located  on  section  23,  Stonington  Township. 

George  Rollins,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was 
born  in  the  eastern  part  of  Tennessee,  and  there 
passed  his  boyhood  and  youth.  On  arriving  at  a 
suitable  age  he  married  Miss  Eveline  Phillips,  who 
was  also  born  and  reared  to  maturity  in  the  same 
State.  They  became  the  parents  of  eight  children, 
two  of  whom  are  deceased,  and  our  subject  is 
third  in  order  of  birth.  The  parents  are  still 
living,  industrious  and  respected  citizens  of  Okla- 
homa Territory. 

As  previously  stated,  the  early  years  of  John 
O.  Rollins  were  passed  under  his  parents'  roof  in 
Tennessee,  where  his  birth  occurred.  He  after- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


207 


wards  located  for  some  time  in  Kentucky,  and 
on  reaching  his  majority  started  out  to  make  his 
own  way  in  the  world.  In  June,  1879,  he  arrived 
in  Taylorville  and  went  to  work  at  whatever  he 
could  find  to  do  in  order  to  make  an  honest 
livelihood.  On  the  llth  of  December,  1882,  he 
wedded  Miss  Mary  E.  Brauer,  of  Cass  County, 
a  lady  of  German  descent.  They  have  been 
blessed  with  a  family  of  four  sons,  namely:  Will- 
iam L.,  Elmer,  Clarence  and  Roy. 

Our  subject  was  brought  up  by  his  father  to  be 
a  patriotic  and  true  citizen  of  this  glorious  land, 
and  has  ever  felt  the  responsibility  of  each  and 
every  man  in  matters  pertaining  to  the  public 
welfare,  which  he  has  endeavored  to  promote.  His 
father  was  in  the  service  during  the  Mexican 
War  for  about  one  year.  In  politics,  Mr.  Rollins 
is  identified  with  the  Democratic  party.  His  wife 
holds  membership  with  the  Lutheran  Church,  and 
he,  fraternally,  belongs  to  the  Independent  Order 
of  Odd  Fellows.  His  farm,  on  which  he  is  en- 
gaged in  stock-raising  and  general  farming,  com- 
prises two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  arable  and 
fertile  land.  He  has  made  many  improvements 
on  the  place, and  has  a  commodious  and  attractive 
home.  He  is  a  self-made  man  to  the  fullest  extent 
of  the  word,  and  has  acquired  a  fortune  in  half 
the  time  taken  by  men  of  less  enterprise  and 
business  ability. 


kE  WITT  C.  WILLEY  is  one  of  the  pro- 
gressive farmers  of  May  Township,  and 
makes  his  home  on  section  5.  He  was 
born  October  30, 1831,  in  Hamilton  Coun- 
ty, Ohio,  being  the  third  in  a  family  of  eleven  chil- 
dren, comprising  eight  sons  and  three  daughters. 
His  parents  were  Israel  and  Arthenia  (Stevenson) 
Willey.  The  eldest  child,  Stephen,  died  in  this 
county;  Allen  died  in  childhood;  De  Witt  C.  is  our 
subject;  Horace  is  now  deceased;  Israel  is  a  min- 
ister of  the  Methodist  denomination,  and  is  now 
located  at  Belle  Plaine,  Kan.;  Alga  is  a  dealer  in 


implements  in  Nebraska;  Winfield  S.  is  engaged  in 
farming  in  Kansas,  as  is  also  the  next  younger, 
Frank;  Sarah  Jane  and  Lucy  are  deceased;  and 
Ann  Eliza,  who  became  the  wife  of  John  Cather- 
wood,is  a  resident  of  California. 

The  father  of  our  subject,  Israel  Willey,  was  a 
native  of  Stonington,  Mass.,  born  in  1808.  He  re- 
moved to  Ohio  with  his  parents  when  quite  young, 
and,  emigrating  to  Christian  County  in  1844,  he 
entered  a  tract  of  land,  which  he  engaged  in  culti- 
vating until  he  was  called  from  this  life,  Dec- 
ember 10,  187S.  He  was  of  French  and  English 
extraction,  and  his  father,  who  bore  the  Christian 
name  of  Jude,  was  a  patriot  in  the  War  of  1812. 
The  father  was  a  distant  relative  of  De  Witt  Clin- 
ton, one  of  the  early  Governors  of  the  Empire 
State.  Our  subject's  mother,  who  was  also  of 
French  and  English  extraction,  was  born  in  Hamil- 
ton County,  Ohio,  and  died  in  this  county  in  1863. 

The  early  life  of  De  Witt  C.  Willey  was  passed 
at  his  birthplace,  where  he  was  given  practical 
training  in  canning  on  a  farm.  There  were  veiy 
few  schools  at  that  early  day  in  this  locality,  but 
he  made  the  most  of  his  opportunities  and  is  now 
a  man  of  good  education.  When  he  became  of 
age  he  purchased  the  farm  where  he  still  resides. 
At  that  time  it  was  unimproved  prairie  land.  He 
has  placed  it  under  good  cultivation,  and  waving 
fields  of  grain  are  the  result  of  his  care  and  labor. 
The  farm  comprises  one  hundred  and  sixty-nine 
acres  of  fertile  and  desirable  land,  and  the  owner 
is  numbered  among  the  leading  farmers  of  the 
township. 

In  the  year  1856,  Mr.  Willey  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Mary  Black,  a  native  of  San- 
gamon  County,  111.  Unto  this  worthy  couple  has 
been  born  a  family  of  nine  children.  Three  of  the 
number  died  in  infancy.  John  Andrew  is  a  far- 
mer of  this  county;  Hattie  became  the  wife  of 
John  David,  who  owns  and  operates  a  farm  in 
Christian  County;  Henrietta  wedded  Newton 
Brown,  a  resident  of  Taylorville;  Horace  Lincoln 
also  makes  his  home  in  the  same  place;  and  the 
two  younger,  Raymond  and  Frank,  are  still  resid- 
ing with  their  parents  on  the  homestead. 

In  his  political  views  Mr.  Willey  is  a  stanch 
Republican,  and  has  always  taken  a  great  deal  of 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


interest  in  political  matters.  He  is  a  public-spirited 
citizen,  and  uses  his  influence  for  the  promotion 
of  all  enterprises  calculated  to  benefit  the  neigh- 
borhood in  which  he  dwells  and  the  community 
at  large.  He  has  served  as  one  of  the  School 
Directors  in  May  Township,  and  is  a  firm  advo- 
cate of  good  schools  and  teachers.  Religiously,  he 
holds  membership  with  the  Methodist  Church,  and 
as  a  man  is  upright  and  honorable  at  all  times. 


j>ILLIAM  EUGENE  HAYWARD,  Mayor 
of  Pana.  It  affords  the  compilers  of  this 
work  much  pleasure  to  present  to  their 
readers  a  brief  sketch  of  a  gentleman  and  of  a 
family  whose  interests  are  so  prominently  identi- 
fied with  the  early  growth  and  advancement  of 
Christian  County.  The  Hay  ward  family  in  this 
country  originated  during  the  misty  period  of 
Colonial  history,  and  various  branches  from  the 
parent  stem  are  now  found  in  several  States,  and 
in  many  instances  men  of  the  name  have  exerted 
a  substantial  influence  in  advancing  civilization. 
There  is  a  natural  sturdiness  of  manhood  and  re- 
finement of  character  found  in  numbers  of  those 
who  have  borne  the  name,  so  that  to  one  familiar 
with  the  family  history  they  have  certain  charac- 
teristics easily  recognizable  as  belonging  to  them. 
There  appears  a  natural  reticence  in  individuals 
bearing  the  name,  which  often  prevents  them 
from  reaching  those  public  positions  of  honor  so 
frequently  obtained  by  other  men  of  less  ability. 
There  is  also  a  marked  steadfastness  of  purpose  in 
them,  which  rarely  fails  to  carry  to  a  successful 
issue  any  venture  undertaken;  and  a  natural  ten- 
dency of  mind  for  matters  of  advanced  intellectual 
thought.  It  is  also  noticeable  that  the  family  has 
furnished  a  large  quota  of  finely  educated  men. 
In  the  early  days  of  Harvard  University  one  of  its 
famed  graduates  was  Beza  Hayward,  the  grand- 
father of  our  subject.  He  embraced  the  ministry, 
but  did  not  make  that  his  life  work,  having 


preferences  for  a  political  career.  For  years  he 
held  the  responsible  position  of  Register  of  Deeds 
in  Plymouth,  Mass.,  and  later  he  became  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  people  of  his  district  in  the  Upper 
House  of  the  General  Assembly.  Entirely  at 
home  in  debate,  his  abilities  especially  fitted  him 
for  forensic  battle,  and  he  is  remembered  as  a  man 
of  brilliant  intellect  and  one  not  easily  conquered 
in  the  discussion  of  public  questions.  He  was  a 
leader  of  men,  his  abilities  and  training  giving 
him  a  power  and  eloquence  that  made  him  well 
known  in  whatever  field  his  lot  was  cast.  He  died 
at  Plymouth  at  the  advanced  age  of  seventy-eight 
years. 

John  S.  Hayward,  father  of  our  subject,  inherited 
many  of  the  family  traits  and  became  a  man  of 
wealth  and  influence  in  this  and  adjoining  coun- 
ties of  Illinois.  He  was  an  extensive  land  operator 
and  one  of  the  representative  men  of  the  Prairie 
State.  His  birth  occurred  at  Bridgewater,  Mass., 
in  1803.  .  Further  mention  of  him  is  found  on  an- 
other page  of  this  work.  He  married  Harriet  F. 
Comstock,  and  of  their  family  of  six  children,  our 
subject  is  one  of  three  who  arrived  at  years  of 
maturity.  John  Augustus  and  Harriet  are  both 
deceased,  and  our  subject  is  the  only  one  now 
surviving. 

The  education  of  W.  E.  Hayward  was  acquired 
in  the  public  schools  at  Hillsboro,  and  was  supple- 
mented by  a  course  at  Autioch  College,  in  Ohio, 
and  the  Williston  Seminary,  in  Easthampton,  Mass. 
The  outbreak  of  the  war  coming  before  his  college 
course  was  completed,  he,  at  the  age  of  nineteen, 
enlisted  in  Battery  I,  Second  Illinois  Artillery,  in 
which  he  became  Second  Lieutenant  and  did  val- 
iant service  with  his  brigade  for  two  years.  In 
1865,  he  became  Captain  of  Company  F,  Second 
Regiment  United  States  Volunteers,  with  which 
command  he  operated  until  the  close  of  the  war. 
His  father  having  large  interests  in  Pana,  he  then 
located  here,  and  soon  embarked  in  the  banking 
and  real-estate  business,  which  he  conducted  with 
unvarying  success  until  1878,  when  he  discontinued 
his  banking  business  and  has  since  devoted  his 
attention  more  particularly  to  real  estate  and 
loans.  As  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  his  father's 
sketch,  large  landed  properties  had  been  obtained, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


209 


and  the  improvement  of  these  demanded  much  of 
his  time.  His  interests  in  real  estate  extend  over 
various  States,  including  Illinois,  Missouri,  Kansas 
and  Nebraska,  and  his  management  has  resulted 
most  satisfactorily. 

Mr.  Hayward  was  married  November  26,  1868, 
to  Miss  Clara  M.  Turnbolt.  Of  six  children  born 
to  them,  Beza  T.,  Lucian  P.,  Clara  T.  and  Eugenia 
are  deceased.  Susan  L.  and  Evadne,  two  lovely 
and  charming  little  girls,  are  the  joy  of  their 
parents'  home.  The  Hayward  residence  is  a  beau- 
tiful roomy  brick  structure,  standing  conveniently 
near  the  business  centre  of  Pana,  and  is  widely 
known  as  the  abode  of  hospitality  and  refinement. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hayward  have  traveled  exten- 
sively, and  every  country  and  every  clime  has 
contributed  not  only  to  their  general  information 
and  culture,  but  has  supplied  many  articles  of 
virtu  and  beauty  for  the  elevation  and  adorn- 
ment of  their  pleasant  home.  Being  devoted  to 
masterpieces  in  art  and  literature,  elegant  volumes 
of  the  standard  poets,  historians,  philosophers  and 
novelists  are  found  on  the  shelves  of  their  library, 
which  is  one  of  the  finest  and  most  elaborate  pri- 
vate collections  in  central  Illinois.  Here  are 
found  the  best  thoughts  of  the  ablest  men,  and 
human  nature,  as  depicted  by  the  pens  of  the 
brightest  writers,  in  the  "  LesMiserables"  of  Victor 
Hugo,  or  the  no  less  interesting  study  of  the 
"  Wandering  Jew,"  by  Eugene  Sue.  To  one 
absorbed  in  living  with  these  men  who  have  painted 
in  brilliant  colors  all  phases  of  human  life,  this 
library  would  be  a  never-failing  source  of  enjo3'- 
ment.  The  studios  of  the  most  famous  painters 
have  contributed  in  finest  reproductions  of  their 
choicest  .gems,  and  almost  every  first-class  art  pub- 
lication in  America  is  found  on  these  shelves.  To 
no  less  a  degree  have  other  lines  of  art  furnished 
beautiful  productions — in  artistic  and  valuable 
vases  from  domestic  and  foreign  artists,  in  exquisite 
and  intricate  hammered  brass  from  Benares,  and 
deeply  engraven  shells  from  the  best  workmen  of 
Italy.  One  noticeable  and  beautiful  gem,  a  mas- 
ter-piece of  marble,  is  the  bust  of  a  handsome 
woman,  chizeled  with  such  naturalness  and  delicacy 
that  the  beholder  expects  each  moment  to  see  the 
bosom  heave.  It  comes  from  an  Italian  sculptor, 


and  stands  upon  a  pedestal  of  delicate  Mexican 
onyx,  the  whole  making  a  work  of  art  that  leaves 
a  sense  of  lasting  pleasure. 

While  selecting  works  of  art  for  the  adornment 
of  his  home,  Mr.  Hayward  has  not  neglected  the 
beautiful  and  far  more  wonderful  works  of  nature, 
the  greatest  artist  of  all.  He  has  extensive  cabi- 
nets filled  with  choicest  gems,  well  illustrating  all 
the  various  stages  of  geological  formations,  especi- 
ally those  wherein  Nature  as  a  painter  and  design- 
er most  distinctly  shows.  Having  ample  means  to 
supply  all  desires  of  his  mind,  Mr.  Hayward  has 
not  hoarded  his  wealth,  but  has  poured  it  out  with 
a  lavish  hand  to  secure  those  things  that  contribute 
so  much  toward  the  elevation  and  advancement 
of  humanity.  He  has  gathered  these  rare  gems 
around  him  not  to  appease  the  base  vanity  of  a 
shallow  mind,  but  to  gratify  an  innate  love  of  the 
beautiful  and  ennobling,  and  to  exert  an  influence 
on  the  lives  of  those  around  him  that  no  other 
expenditure  of  wealth  would  secure.  He  has  been 
ably  seconded  in  these  tastes  by  his  estimable 
wife,  whose  gracious  presence  adds  a  charm  to  the 
home  circle  which  rounds  out  and  completes  a 
most  interesting  family. 


eHARLES  GREB  is  one  of  the  German-born 
citizens  of  Christian  County,  and  has  been 
no  small  factor  in  her  development  and 
present  prosperity.  His  farm  is  located  on  sec- 
tions 5  and  16,  Stoniugton  Township.  The  birth 
of  our  subject  occurred  in  Hessen,  Germany,  Oc- 
tober 24,  1853.  His  father,  John  Greb,  was  born 
and  reared  to  manhood  in  Germany,  where  he 
married  Miss  Katie  Pope.  After  the  death  of  his 
wife  he  crossed  the  broad  Atlantic  to  try  his  for- 
tune in  the  United  States,  and  made  a  settlement 
in  Cass  County,  111.  There  his  remaining  years 
were  passed,  and  there  he  died  at  a  good  old  age. 

In  the  family  of  six  children,  Charles  Greb  was 
the  second-born.  He  acquired  a  good  education 
in  his  native  land,  and  made  his  own  livelihood 
from  the  time  he  was  sixteen  years  of  age.  He 


210 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


was  twenty  years  old  when  he  left  his  native  land, 
and  on  his  arrival  in  New  York  he  went  to  work 
at  the  carpenter's  trade,  which  he  had  mastered  in 
Germany.  He  continued  to  reside  in  the  Eastern 
metropolis  for  about  three  years,  when  he  set  his 
face  Westward  and  arrived  in  Cass  County,  111.,  in 
1876.  Four  years  later  he  came  to  Christian 
County,  where  he  has  since  made  his  home. 

In  the  same  year  in  which  Mr.  Greb  settled  in 
this  county,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Hannah  Brauer,  who  was  born  and  grew  to 
womanhood  in  Cass  County.  Her  parents,  how- 
ever, were  natives  of  Germany,  and  became 
respected  settlers  of  Cass  County.  The  union  of 
our  subject  and  wife  has  been  blessed  with  two 
bright  children,  John  F.  and  Alice. 

The  beautiful  and  fertile  farm  of  Mr.  Greb 
consists  of  two  hundred  acres  located  on  section 
16.  He  also  owns  another  good  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  on  section  5,  of  Stoning- 
ton  Township.  In  politics,  he  is  identified  with 
the  Democratic  party,  and  fraternally  is  associ- 
ated with  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America. 
Both  himself  and  wife  are  members  of  the  Luther- 
an Church,  and  rank  high  in  the  friendship  and 
esteem  of  all  who  know  them.  The  many  broad 
acres  now  owned  by  our  subject  have  been  ac- 
quired in  a  very  few  years,  but  it  is  owing  to  the 
unusual  energy,  industry  and  business  ability 
which  are  his  native  characteristics.  In  addition 
to  the  farm  owned  by  him,  his  good  wife,  besides 
giving  him  great  assistance  and  loving  counsel, 
has  brought  him  an  inheritance  of  two  hundred 
acres  from  her  father's  estate. 


R.  VALENTINE,  who  is  engaged 

in  farming  on  section  20,  of  Taylorville 
Township,  is  one  of  the  native  sons  of  this 
county,  where  he  was  born  June  4,  1860.  He  is  a 
son  of  George  W.  and  Mary  M.  (Clark)  Valentine, 
early  and  respected  settlers  of  this  community. 
The  father  was  born  October  14,  1818,  in  what  was 


then  the  Territory  of  Illinois,  near  Greenville, 
Bond  County,  and  has  lived  here  ever  since.  His 
father  and  mother  were  natives  of  South  Carolina, 
who  removed  to  Tennessee,  where  they  were  mar- 
ried, and  later  came  to  Illinois,  in  1817. 

George  W.  Valentine  was  married  September  2, 
1845,  in  Christian  County,  111.,  to  Miss  Mary  M. 
Clark,  who  was  born  in  1825,  in  the  same  county, 
and  of  their  union  were  born  fourteen  children, 
as  follows:  Cordelia  S.,  born  in  December,  1846; 
Cyrena  A.,  in  1848;  Hannah  F.,  in  1849,  who  is  de- 
ceased; William  E.,  born  in  1851;  James  C.,  in 
1853;  L.  L.,  in  1855;  Emma  L.,in  185J;  George  R., 
in  June  1860;  Mary  Bell,  in  1861;  Albert  H.  and 
Lizzie  I.  (twins),  in  1863;  Jennie  P.,  in  1865,  who 
is  deceased;  Martha  H.,  born  in  1867;  and  Eddie, 
U.,  in  1869. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  received  a  practical 
training  in  carrying  on  a  farm,  and  remained  with 
his  parents,  assisting  in  operating  the  old  home- 
stead, until  he  was  twenty-four  years  old.  He  re- 
ceived a  good  common-school  and  business  educa- 
tion, thus  fitting  him  for  the  practical  duties  of  life. 
In  1884  he  located  on  his  present  farm,  which  com- 
prises one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  and  has  since 
been  engaged  in  general  farming  and  stock-raising, 
in  which  he  has  met  with  good  success.  He  is  con- 
sidered one  of  the  enterprising  and  progressive 
young  farmers  of  the  township,  and  he  uses  mod- 
ern and  practical  methods  in  conducting  his  farm 
work.  - 

On  the  1st  of  May,  1883,  was  celebrated  the 
marriage  of  Mr.  Valentine  and  Miss  Lula  Slater, 
daughter  of  Dr.  and  Sarah  (Stockwell)  Slater,  who 
are  well  known  in  this  community.  Three  children 
have  been  born  to  our  subject  and  wife,  Lyman 
G.,  Maria  and  Hiram.  The  father  of  Mrs.  Valen- 
tine has  been  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession for  many  years  in  Taylorville. 

Our  subject  is  active  in  the  ranks  of  the  Repub- 
lican party  and  is  greatly  interested  in  its  success. 
He  and  his  estimable  wife  hold  membership  in  the 
Methodist  Church,  and  are  active  in  the  work  of 
that  denomination.  Mr.  Valentine  is  a  man  who 
is  known  to  be  just  and  honorable,  and  is  entirely 
worthy  of  the  high  regard  and  confidence  which 
is  accorded  him  by  his  friends  and  neighbors. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


211 


SILAS  W.  CULP  has  been  engaged  in  the 
drug  business  in  Morrisonville  since  1882, 
having  resided  here  since  1876,  and  for 
the  last  six  years. has  also  been  proprietor 
and  publisher  of  the  Morrisonville  Times,  a.  weekly 
independent  newspaper,  which  has  an  extensive 
local  circulation  and  is  ably  conducted.  In  1889 
Mr.  Gulp  also  engaged  in  the  jewelry  business, 
and  is  still  carrying  on  the  three  distinct  enter- 
prises. 

Our  subject  is  a  son  of  Jacob  W.  and  Eliza 
(Branch)  Culp,  natives  of  Ohio.  He  is  one  of 
eleven  children,  four  sons  and  seven  daughters, 
eight  of  whom  are  yet  living,  two  having  died 
in  infancy,  and  Martha,  the  fourth  in  order  of 
birth,  and  formerly  the  wife  of  Horace  Kilton,  of 
Tupper's  Plains,  Ohio,  is  also  now  deceased.  The 
others  in  order  of  birth  are  as  follows:  Maria, 
wife  of  Lewis  Worthen,  of  Arkansas:  Silas  W., 
who  was  born  April  22,  1845,  in  Meigs  County, 
Ohio;  Phoebe,  wife  of  Henry  ,Runge,  of  Nokomis, 
111.;  Mary,  wife  of  John  Anderson,  a  resident  of 
Monticello;  Caroline  and  Calvin,  who  reside  in 
Nokomis;  Douglas,  of  Sioux  Kails,  S.  Dak.;  and 
Lowis,  of  Nokomis. 

Our  subject's  paternal  grandfather,  Adam  Culp, 
who  was  of  German  parentage,  was  a  native  of 
Pennsylvania,  but  removed  to  Ohio,  where  he  fol- 
lowed farming.  He  lived  to  be  sixty-three  years 
of  age,  and  reared  a  family  of  sixteen  children. 
The  maternal  grandfather,  Cyrus  Branch,  who  was 
also  a  farmer,  was  born  in  Massachusetts,  and  at- 
tained a  good  old  age  in  his  Ohio  home.  Jacob 
W.  Culp  was  for  many  years  engaged  in  farming 
near  Nokomis,  111.  lie  came  to  this  State  from 
Ohio  in  the  fall  of  1865,  locating  on  the  farm 
where  he  still  resides  near  the  town  of  Nokomis. 
His  wife  died  in  1880,  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven 
years.  Both  parents  have  been  for  many  years 
members  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Silas  W.  Culp,  whose  name  heads  this  sketch, 
was  reared  to  manhood  in  Meigs  County,  Ohio, 
there  receiving  a  good  education.  lie  pursued 
his  higher  studies  in  Blackburg  University,  at 
Carlinville,  graduating  from  that  institution  of 
learning  in  1873.  For  nine  successive  years  he 
engaged  in  teaching  school  successfully,  and  after- 
9 


ward  embarked  in  the  drug  business  in  Morrison- 
ville, coming  here  in  1876.  As  a  business  man 
he  has  met  with  good  success,  and  merits  the  ex- 
tensive patronage  which  he  receives  on  account  of 
his  correct  methods  and  honorable  manner  of  con- 
ducting his  affairs. 

On  the  27th  of  January,  1886,  Mr.  Culp  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Nina  Maxon  Dun- 
ning, a  daughter  of  Andrew  J.  and  Sarah  J. 
(Hale)  Dunning,  well-known  residents  of  Chris- 
tian County.  She  was  reared  to  womanhood  in 
Sangamon  County,  and  presides  over  the  home 
of  our  subject  with  womanly  grace  and  hospi- 
tality. 

Mr.  Culp  owns  some  eighty  acres  of  land  in  Da- 
kota, and  had  in  former  years  a  slight  acquaint- 
ance with  farming,  as  during  the  years  from  1865 
to  1871,  when  he  was  engaged  in  teaching  school 
during  the  winter  season,  he  carried  on  a  farm 
the  remainder  of  the  year  near  Nokomis.  He  owns 
a  good  home  property  in  Morrisonville  in  addi- 
tion to  his  store  building.  For  one  term  he  held 
the  office  of  Township  Collector,  is  the  present 
Township  School  Treasurer,  and  for  six  years  ac- 
ceptably filled  the  position  of  School  Trustee.  So- 
cially, he  is  a  member  of  Morrisonville  Lodge  No. 
681,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Taylorville  Chapter,  and 
belongs  to  St.  Omar  Commandery,  of  Litch field. 
He  is  also  connected  with  the  Modern  Woodmen 
of  America.  In  politics,  he  is  a  supporter  of  the 
Democratic  party. 


1EORGE  DEAL  is  a  well-to-do  farmer  resid- 
ing on  section  1,  King  Township.  He  was 
born  in  Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  February  25, 
1842,  and  is  a  son  of  George  Deal,  who  died  in 
Pennsylvania  when  our  subject  was  a  little  over 
ten  years  of  age.  For  further  particulars  of  the 
life  of  the  father,  see  sketch  of  William  H.  Deal, 
which  ma}'  be  found  in  another  part  of  this  work. 
Our  subject's  early  years  were  passed  on  the 


212 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


farm  and  he  had  but  little  chance  to  obtain  an  ed- 
ucation, as  he  only  went  for  two  terms  to  a  sub- 
scription school.  After  his  father's  death  he  was 
obliged  to  make  his  own  living,  and  worked  in  the 
coal  mines  near  Wilkes  Barre,  Pa.,  driving  a  horse 
attached  to  a  coal  car.  In  August,  1862,  he  en- 
listed in  the  army  at  Greenfield,  Greene  County, 
111.,  whither  he  had  gone  with  his  mother  and  the 
family.  He  became  a  member  of  Company  K, 
Ninety-first  Regiment  of  Illinois  Infantr}',  under 
Capt.  Newman  and  Col.  Day.  He  was  sent  to 
Louisville.  Ky.,  and  thence  dispatched  after  Mor- 
gan. At  Elizabethtown  he  was  taken  prisoner  by 
Morgan's  men  after  a  hard  fight  and  was  kept  un- 
der guard  in  a  store  building.  After  passing  for- 
ty-eight hours  without  anything  to  eat,  he  was  pa- 
roled and  sent  to  the  parole  barracks  in  St.  Louis, 
where  he  was  finally  exchanged.  He  then  took  part 
in  the  engagements  at  Vicksburg,  Ft.  Pillow  and 
New  Orleans.  At  the  latter  place  he  was  stationed 
for  two  months  on  provost-guard  duty.  He  was 
afterwards  for  fourteen  months  in  Texas  and  was 
obliged  to  do  a  great  deal  of  marching.  On  the 
march  oC  one  hundred  miles  to  Salt  Lake,  Tex.,  in 
deep  sand, he  received  an  allowance  of  only  one 
pint  of  water  a  day,  as  it  had  to  be  transported 
and  it  was  impossible  to  obtain  it  in  the  desert. 
-He  was  in  the  fight  at  White's  Ranch,  on  the  Rio 
Grande,  and  on  the  voyage  to  New  Orleans  was 
eleven  days  on  the  Gulf,  when  a  severe  storm  de- 
stroyed two  vessels  of  the  fleet.  Many  of  the  men 
were  taken  sick  with  scurvy,  and  our  subject 
nearly  died  after  his  arrival  in  the  Crescent  City. 
From  New  Orleans  he  went  to  Spanish  Fort  and 
took  part  in  the  siege  for  thirteen  days,  and 
then  supported  the  charge  on  Ft.  Blakely.  Re- 
turning to  Spanish  Fort,  he  participated  in  the 
battle  of  Whistler.  From  New  Orleans  he  went 
on  boat  to  Ship  Island,  in  charge  of  a  detail  of 
men,  to  exchange  prisoners.  From  Mobile  his 
company  proceeded  to  the  Tombigbee  River  and 
captured  Gen.  Taylor  and  ten  thousand  men.  He 
was  within  a-quarter  of  a  mile  of  the  magazine  ex- 
plosion in  Mobile  that  destroj-ed  four  blocks  of 
the  city  and  killed  many  persons,  and  in  the  fight 
at  Elizabethtown  the  rim  of  his  hat  was  shot  off. 
In  1865,  he  was  mustered  out,  having  served 


nearly  three  years.  For  his  valiant  services,  pri- 
vations and  sufferings  he  is  justly  entitled  to  the 
pension  which  he  now  receives. 

In  South  Fork  Township,  of  this  county,  Mr. 
Deal  married  Miss  Sarah,  daughter  of  Jo  Meredith, 
of  Sangamon  County,  and  formerly  of  Ohio. 
Unto  our  subject  and  his  wife  have  been  born 
three  children,  Amy,  Stella  O.  and  Nonia,  who 
have  been  educated  in  the  public  schools. 

On  returning  from  the  army  our  subject  went 
to  work  on  a  farm,  and  continued  for  two  years 
after  his  arrival  in  Christian  County.  He  bought 
eighty  acres  of  land  at  the  rate  of  $30  per  acre, 
this  being  unimproved  prairie.  He  has  put  up 
good  buildings,  a  substantial  residence,  and  made 
other  improvements  on  the  farm,  the  boundaries 
of  which  have  been  extended  until  they  now  com- 
prise one  hundred  and  sixty  acres. 

Mr.  Deal  is  a  Grand  Army  man,  belonging  to 
the  Morrisonville  post.  For  about  twenty-three 
years,  he  and  his  wife  have  been  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  Shiloh,  and  he  has 
been  Trustee  and  Treasurer  of  the  church.  His 
first  Presidential  vote  was  cast  for  Gen.  Grant  in 
1868,  since  which  time  he  has  still  voted  the  Re- 
publican ticket.  He  is  a  good  citizen  and  an  in- 
dustrious farmer. 


ffiL_,  UGH  C.  LAWLER,  a  brick  mason  and  con- 
iTjV  tractor,  is  recognized  as  a  wide-awake  and 
ifftj?  enterprising  young  business  man  of  Tay- 
(^)  lorville.  It  is  to  such  men  as  our  subject 
that  the  prosperity  of  the  city  is  due,  for  their  en- 
ergy and  industry  form  the  foundation  upon 
which  the  successful  structure  is  reared.  Mr.  Law- 
ler  has  the  honor  of  being  a  native  of  Illinois. 
He  was  born  in  McLean  County,  near  Blooming- 
ton,  and  is  one  of  three  children  whose  parents 
were  Jonathan  and  Adeline  (Campbell)  Lawler, 
both  natives  of  Kentucky.  His  paternal  grand- 
father, Gibbon  Lawler,  was  a  native  of  North 
Carolina.  He  afterward  became  a  resident  of  Terre 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


213 


Haute,  Ind.,  and  was  a  contractor  on  the  National 
Plank  Road.  His  death  occurred  in  1834.  The 
maternal  grandfather,  Hugh  Campbell,  was  born 
in  1812,  and  was  a  farmer  by  occupation.  He  be- 
came one  of  the  earl}'  settlers  of  Illinois,  locating 
in  Morgan  County  about  1830.  His  last  days 
were  spent  in  Bloomington,  he  having  gone  to  Mc- 
Lean County  in  1855,  where  he  died  in  1888,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-six  years.  The  father  of  our 
subject  was  in  early  life  a  farmer,  and  followed 
that  pursuit  until  his  removal  to  Illinois,  after 
which  he  became  a  brick  mason  and  contractor. 
To  that  business  he  still  devotes  his  time  and  at- 
tention. He  and  his  wife  make  their  home  in  Tay- 
lorville,  whore  they  are  widely  and  favorably 
known.  With  the  Christian  Church  they  hold 
membership.  Their  three  children  were  Mary  Alice, 
now  deceased;  Hugh  C.,  of  this  sketch;  and  Clar- 
ence E. 

In  the  county  of  his  nativity,  our  subject  passed 
the  days  of  his  boyhood  under  the  parental  roof, 
and  in  the  public  schools  acquired  a  good  practi- 
cal education.  His  life  has  been  a  busy  and  use- 
ful one,  devoted  to  the  work  which  he  now  car- 
ries on.  He  learned  the  trade  of  brick-laying  with 
his  father,  and  in  time  became  a  contractor.  He 
first  began  contracting  in  1883,  since  which  time 
he  has  erected  many  of  the  fine  buildings  in  Bloom- 
ington, including  several  store  buildings  and  the 
Jewish  S3rnagogue.  He  also  built  a  schoolhouse 
in  Clinton  and  one  in  Carrollton,  and  the  Antlers 
Hotel  in  Taylorville.  Under  his  supervision  the 
Gephart  Block  of  Decatur  and  the  St.  Nicholas 
Hotel  of  Decatur  were  built,  and  the  fine  new 
Christian  Church  of  Taylorville  is  now  being 
erected.  Mr.  Lawler  is  also  building  two  public 
school  buildings  and  the  Huber  Block  atPana.  He 
is  an  expert  workman  and  has  a  high  reputation 
in  various  parts  of  the  State  for  doing  fine  work 
and  living  up  to  his  contract.  Although  only  a 
young  man,  he  has  had  a  large  experience  as  a 
contractor  and  builder  of  masonry. 

On  the  22d  of  November,  1882,  Mr.  Lawler  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Jennie  Amelia  West,  a 
daughter  of  Andrew  C.  and  Etta  (Schaum)  West, 
of  Bloomingtoii.  Five  children  have  graced  their 
union:  Ida  May,  Hugh  M.,  Alma  L.,  Henrietta  A. 


and  Alice  A.  The  parents  are  members  of  the 
Christian  Church,  and  in  social  circles  where 
true  worth  and  intelligence  are  received  as  the 
passports  into  good  society  they  hold  an  enviable 
position.  Mr.  Lawler  exercises  his  right  of  fran- 
chise in  support  of  the  Republican  party,  but  has 
never  been  an  aspirant  for  political  preferment. 
He  is  a  pleasant,  genial  gentleman,  and  the  high 
regard  in  which  he  is  held  has  been  won  by  an 
upright  and  honorable  life. 


¥>ILLIAM  B.  DAVIS  is  a  noted  agricultur- 
ist and  stock-raiser  of  Taylorville  Town- 
ship, and  owns  a  good  farm  on  section  6. 
He  was  born  in  what  is  now  South  Fork  Township, 
Christian  County,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1836,  and 
is  a  son  of  Barnett  and  Sophronia  (Vandeveer) 
Davis.  The  father  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  and 
the  mother  is  a  sister  of  Judge  Vandeveer,  who  is 
well  known  in  this  and  adjoining  counties. 

Barnett  Davis  was  a  carpenter  by  trade  and  was 
also  engaged  in  farming  in  his  native  State.  In 
middle  life  he  removed  to  Indiana,  and  from  there 
to  Sangamon  County,  111.,  in  1829.  He  located  on 
land  which  is  now  comprised  within  South  Fork 
Township,,  in  this  county.  He  took  up  a  Govern- 
ment claim  and  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of 
the  locality.  His  nearest  trading  point  for  many 
years  was  Springfield  or  Alton,  where  he  had  to 
drive  his  stock  in  order  to  obtain  a  market  for 
them.  He  erected  a  log  cabin,  which  was  the  home 
of  his  family  for  many  years.  He  was  born  in 
1802,  and  continued  to  live  in  this  county  until 
his  death,  in  1857,  when  he  was  buried  in  the  Hill 
Cemetery.  His  wife  is  still  living  at  the  advanced 
age  of  eighty-two  years. 

Our  subject  is  one  of  ten  children,  whose  record 
is  as  follows:  Nancy  is  the  wife  of  James  Brooks,  a 
resident  of  Taylorville,  and  Justice  of  the  Peace; 
Aaron  is  engaged  in  farming  in  Taylorville  Town- 
ship; William  B.  is  the  third  of  the  family;  John 
is  a  farmer  of  Nebraska:  Horatio  M.  lives  in  Edin- 


214 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD 


burgh,  Christian  County;  Mary  J.  became  the  wife 
of  Francis  Perry,  who  carries  on  a  farm  in  Taylor- 
ville  Township;  Monroe  is  deceased;  Freeland  is 
also  deceased;  Jerome  lives  in  Taylorville  Town- 
ship; and  one  died  in  infancy. 

William  Davis  was  born  and  reared  on  the  old 
homestead  in  South  Fork  Township,  where  his 
father  settled  in  1829.  When  ten  years  of  age  he 
removed  to  Taylorville  Township  with  his  parents, 
and  attended  the  subscription  schools  of  the  neigh- 
borhood for  two  or  three  months  during  the  win- 
ter time.  A  part  of  the  time  he  was  obliged  to 
walk  nearly  three  miles  to  the  nearest  school,  which 
was  held  in  a  log  schoolhouse  of  the  most  primi- 
tive fashion.  Since  arriving  at  years  of  maturity 
his  education  has  been  mainly  acquired.  When 
fifteen  years  of  age  he  decided  that  he  was  old 
enough  to  make  his  own  livelihood,  and  as  he  was 
one  of  the  elder  children  it  seemed  best  that  he 
should  do  so.  He  commenced  working  on  a  farm 
by  the  month,  receiving  at  first  forty  cents  per 
day-  For  the  succeeding  eight  years  he  was  em- 
ployed at  farm  work,  and  was  so  industrious  and 
gave  such  good  satisfaction  to  his  employers,  that 
he  worked  for  only  three  farmers  during  that  time. 
He  had  saved  his  earnings  carefully  and  commen- 
ced farming  on  his  own  account  on  rented  land. 
With  wise  foresight  he  continued  as  a  renter  until 
he  found  it  would  be  to  his  benefit  to  purchase  the 
farm  on  section  6  where  he  now  lives.  This  place 
comprises  one  hundred  and  ninety-two  acres  of 
fertile  land,  on  which  the  owner  raises  abundant 
crops. 

In  1859,  Mr.  Davis  married  Miss  Maria  E.  Potts. 
Four  children  have  been  born  of  their  unio  n.  Flora 
E.  resides  with  her  parents;  George  is  deceased; 
Joel  J.  is  married  and  is  an  enterprising  young 
farmer  of  Buckhart  Township;  and  Julian  E.  has 
passed  away. 

Mr.  Davis  has  always  used  his  influence  in  the 
support  of  the  Democratic  party.  Religiously,  he 
holds  membership  with  the  Universalist  Church 
and  takes  an  active  part  in  church  and  ben- 
evolent work.  His  assistance  can  always  be  re- 
lied upon  in  the  furtherance  of  public  enterprises, 
for  he  is  progressive  and  broad-minded  in  all 
things.  He  is  a  practical  farmer  and  has  met  with 


great  success  in  his  commercial  ventures.  Socially, 
lie  holds  membership  with  Blue  Lodge  No.  647, 
Edinburgh,  Christian  County,  and  is  also  a  member 
of  Taylorville  Chapter  No.  102. 


ILL! AM  LAFAYETTE  IGOU,  who  owns 
and  operates  a  farm  of  two  hundred  and 
thirty-seven  acres  on  section  34,  adjoin- 
ing Grove  City,  is  one  of  the  substantial  citizens 
of  Mt.  Auburn  Township.  Pie  is  a  native  of  the 
Prairie  State,  and  has  passed  nearly  his  entire  life 
in  Christian  County.  His  birth  occurred  August 
11,  1851.  His  parents,  Joseph  and  Frances  (Day) 
Igou,  were  natives  of  Ohio  and  Virginia,  respect- 
ively. The  father  was  born  in  Champaign  County, 
and  when  a  young  man  came  to  Illinois  with  his 
father,  becoming  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Christian 
County.  It  was  in  this  State  that  his  marriage 
with  Miss  Day  was  celebrated.  She  was  only  a 
child  when  she  came  to  this  locality,  and  here  she 
was  reared  and  educated.  For  a  number  of  years 
Mr.  Igou  devoted  himself  to  farming,  but  in  1885 
he  went  to  Dakota,  where  he  spent  the  remaining 
years  of  his  life,  passing  away  in  1891.  His  wife 
is  still  living  and  now  resides  Oshkosh,  Oklahoma, 
I.  T. 

The  subject  of  this  notice  spent  his  youth  in 
the  county  of  his  birth,  and  on  account  of  limited 
educational  facilities  was  obliged  to  rely  upon  his 
own  resources  in  the  acquisition  of  an  education. 
At  the  age  of  eighteen  years  he  left  home  and 
went  to  work  on  a  farm,  continuing  to  hire  out 
by  the  month  for  over  three  years.  During  this 
time  he  carefully  kept  his  means  and  purchased  a 
small  tract  of  land.  For  ten  years  he  rented  a 
farm,  after  which  lie  bought  a  farm  of  forty  acres, 
on  which  he  located.  He  still  continued  as  a 
renter  also,  and  in  a  few  years  was  able  to  pur- 
chase an  adjoining  forty  acres.  This  property  he 
still  owns  and  occupies  and  has  greatly  improved 
and  placed  under  good  cultivation.  He  has  erected 
a  good  substantial  house  and  set  out  a  thrifty 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


215 


orchard.  In  the  fall  of  1892,  he  became  the  owner 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven  and  a-half  acres, 
adjoining  Grove  City.  This  is  a  well-improved 
:ui(l  valuable  farm,  both  on  account  of  its  situa- 
tion and  fertility.  There  are  a  pleasant  residence, 
large  barns  and  a  well-trimmed  osage  hedge  upon 
the  place.  It  is  also  divided  into  forty-acre  fields 
by  means  of  this  same  useful  hedge. 

The  24th  of  August,  1875,  was  an  eventful  day 
in  the  life  of  Mr.  Igou,  for  at  that  time  Miss 
Martha  Jane  Gideon  was  united  in  marriage  with 
him.  Mrs.  Igou  is  a  native  of  the  Old  Dominion, 
but  was  reared  in  this  county.  Her  father,  Frank 
Gideon,  is  now  a  resident  of  Indiana.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Igou  are  consistent  members  of  the  Grove 
City  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  of  which  the 
former  is  one  of  the  Trustees. 

In  regard  to  the  question  of  politics,  Mr.  Igou 
is  well  known  as  a  true  friend  to  the  Republican 
party,  and  is  a  patriotic  citizen,  in  all  that  term 
implies.  He  is  a  member  of  the  School  Board, 
and  upholds  all  educational  measures  to  the  ex- 
tent of  his  ability.  He  is  a  public-spirited  man, 
and  takes  an  active  part  in  everything  calculated 
to  serve  the  good  of  the  people. 


ISAAC  N.  WARD,  a  successful  agriculturist  of 
Mt.  Auburn  Township,  owns  and   operates  a 
good  farm  on  section  36.     For  upwards  of  a 
quarter-century  he  has  made  his  home  in  this  im- 
mediate vicinity,  and  is  one  who  has  endeavored 
in  every  possible  manner  to  promote  the  good  of 
this  community. 

Our  subject  is  a  son  of  John  and  Mary  Ann 
(Smith)  Ward,  and  was  born  September  14,  1840, 
in  Guernsey  County,  Ohio.  His  father  was  a  na- 
tive of  the  Old  Dominion,  who  passed  his  youth 
in  that  part  of  the  country,  but  removed  to  Ohio 
in  his  young  manhood.  In  the  Buckeye  State  was 
celebrated  his  marriage  with  Miss  Smith,  a  native 
of  England.  After  his  marriage,  Mr.  Ward  en- 


gaged in  farming  in  Guernsey  County  for  a  few 
years,  later  removing  to  Washington  County, 
where  he  cleared  and  developed  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres,  and  reared  his  family  in 
the  fear  of  God.  During  his  residence  on  th'is 
farm  he  lost  his  wife,  and  after'a  few  years  he  sold 
the  property,  returning  to  Guernsey  County,  where 
he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life. 

Isaac  N.  Ward  is  one  of  a  large  family,  compris- 
ing ten  sons  and  four  daughters.  Of  this  number  all 
lived  to  maturity  and  were  married  with  one  ex- 
ception. Eleven  are  still  surviving,  and  during 
the  late  war  three  of  the  brothers  were  soldiers. 
One  of  the  latter,  James,  was  taken  sick  and  died 
at  Carthage,  Tenn. 

Our  subject's  boyhood  days  were  passed  on  the 
old  homestead  in  Washington  County,  and  his 
services  were  dutifully  given  to  his  father  un- 
til he  had  attained  to  his  majority.  On  the 
13th  of  August,  1862,  Isaac  N.  Ward  donned  the 
blue  and  went  in  defense  of  the  Union.  He 
became  a  member  of  Company  H,  Ninety-second 
Ohio  Infantry,  and  saw  considerable  active  service. 
With  his  regiment  he -took  part  in  a  number  of 
important  campaigns,  and  participated  in  the  bat- 
tles of  Chickamauga,  Mission  Ridge,  Buzzard's 
Roost,  and  went  through  the  Atlanta  campaign. 
He  was  on  the  march  with  Sherman  to  the  sea,  and 
at  the  close  of  the  war  marched  with  the  victorious 
army  in  the  Grand  Review  at  Washington,  where 
he  was  mustered  out. 

Returning  to  his  Ohio  home  after  the  storm 
clouds  of  war  had  rolled  away,  Mr.  Ward  resided 
there  for  about  three  years.  It  was.  in  the  fall  of 
1868  that  he  determined  to  try  his  luck  in  Illi- 
nois, where  he  arrived  in  October.  Having  pur- 
chased a  team,  he  engaged  in  farming  on  rented 
laud  for  a  number  of  years  in  this  county,  and  in 
1880  became  the  owner  of  the  farm  on  which  he 
still  makes  his  home.  This  place  once  belonged 
to  three  heirs,  Mrs.  Ward  being  one  of  the  num- 
ber, and  after  buying  out  the  others  she  succeeded 
to  the  place.  Like  many  of  the  farms  in  this  lo- 
cality, it  is  fenced  with  osage  hedge  and  divided 
into  forty-acre  sections.  Mr.  Ward  has  erected  a 
good  residence,  substantial  barns  and  granaries 
and  has  set  out  an  orchard. 


216 


POETRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


In  1867,  in  Washington  County,  Ohio,  occurred 
the  first  marriage  of  our  subject.  The  lady  of  his 
choice  was  Miss  May  Jane  Hupp,  who  was  born  in 
Noble  County,  of  the  same  State.  She  departed 
this  life  in  1873,  leaving  two  children.  The  elder, 
Laura,  is  the  wife  of  Lewis  Hurlbutt,  who  is  en- 
gaged in  farming  in  this  vicinity.  The  younger 
daughter,  Mary  A.,  became  the  wife  of  William  C. 
Brubeck,  now  of  Oklahoma.  In  Springfield,  on 
the  8th  of  April,  1880,  at  the  St.  Nicholas  Hotel, 
Mr.  Ward  and  Miss  Amanda  Montgomery  were 
united  in  marriage.  The  lady  was  born  on  the 
farm  where  she  now  resides,  and  is  a  daughter  of 
Ira  Montgomery,  an  honored  pioneer  of  Christian 
County,  who  died  in  1858.  By  this  union  six 
children  have  been  born:  Ida  Pearl,  James  N.,Eva 
Grace  and  Ella  Myrtle  (twins),  Jessie  and  Tilhe 
Belle. 

Socially,  Mr.  Ward  is  a  member  of  Grove  City 
Odd  Fellows'  lodge,  and  is  Noble  Grand.  He 
also  belongs  to  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America, 
and  is  greatly  interested  in  these  organizations. 
He  ranks  high  in  the  estimation  of  all  his  friends 
and  neighbors  as  a  man  of  excellent  business  abil- 
ity and  true  worth  of  character.  He  has  been  an 
ally  of  the  Democratic  party  for  many  years,  sup- 
porting its  nominees  and  measures  in  Presidential 
elections,  but  he  prefers  to  be  independent  at  local 
elections.  He  has  served  as  a  member  of  the 
School  Board,  but  has  declined  other  official  hon- 
ors, choosing  to  give  his  entire  time  to  the  super- 
vision of  his  farm. 


flUj,  ELVILLE  W.  STAPLES,    M.  D.,  of  Grove 

I     \\\    City,  is  one  of  the  active  and   successful 

j      1ft  professional  men  of  Christian  County.    He 

is  a  native  son  of  this  State,  having  been 

born  in  Tazewell  County,  September  8,  1850,  and 

has  passed  nearly  his  entire  life  in  the  Prairie  State. 

Rev.  John  J.  Staples,  the  father  of  the  Doctor,  was 

born  in  the  Old  Dominion,  and  was  a  lad  of  only 

nine  years  when  he  came  with  his  parents  to  Illi- 


nois. The  family  settled  in  Peoria  County,  about 
1825.  The  marriage  of  Mr.  Staples  occurred  in 
Springfield,  111.,  his  wife  being  an  adopted  daugh- 
ter of  Erastus  Wright,  one  of  the  early  settlers  and 
pioneer  teachers  of  Illinois.  After  his  marriage, 
Mr.  Staples  settled  in  Tazewell  County,  where  he 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  until  1859,when  he 
emigrated  to  Missouri  and  took  up  his  residence 
in  Carrollton,  where  he  remained  for  a  few  years. 
In  1861,  he  returned  to  Illinois,  settling  in  Deca- 
tur.  He  was  a  minister  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  was  placed  on  the  Decatur  Circuit.  At 
the  end  of  two  years  he  was  transferred  to  the  Har- 
ristown  Circuit,  and  in  1865  came  to  Taylorville, 
where  he  engaged  in  pastoral  work  until  1874.  At 
this  time  he  retired  from  the  conference  and  went 
to  Kansas  on  account  of  his  health.  After  a  short 
time,  this  being  partly  restored,  he  returned  to  the 
pulpit  and  was  afterward  made  Presiding  Elder, 
acting  as  such  until  his  death,  which  occurred  May 
3,  1882. 

Under  the  careful  guidance  of  his  father,  Dr. 
Staples  grew  to  manhood  and  received  a  good  edu- 
cation. He  attended  the  Bloomington  Normal  af- 
ter leaving  the  common  schools,  and  for  six  months 
taught  school  quite  successfully.  That  avocation 
not  being  to  his  taste,  however,  he  learned  the 
painter's  trade,  following  that  business  for  several 
years  in  order  to  obtain  the  means  whereby  to  pur- 
sue a  thorough  course  of  medical  study.  During 
the  winter  of  1881-82,  he  took  his  first  course  of 
lectures  in  the  St.  Louis  Medical  College,  returning 
the  two  following  winters.  He  was  graduated  in 
the  Class  of  '84,  after  having  spent  seven  years 
in  his  medical  studies.  He  had  come  to  Christian 
County  as  early  as  1865,  and  his  first  practice  in  the 
line  of  his  future  work  was  in  Edinburgh,  111.,  but 
he  soon  removed  to  Grove  City,  arriving  here  on 
the  4th  of  June,  1885,  and  has  since  continued  ac- 
tively engaged  in  practice.  His  efforts  have  been 
crowned  with  success  and  he  is  kept  busy  all  the 
time,  his  practice  being  quite  extensive. 

In  Edinburgh,  111.,  on  the  1st  of  March,  1874,  oc- 
curred the  wedding  of  Dr.  Staples  and  Miss  Mary 
Ida  Johns,  who  was  born  at  Columbus,  Ga.,  but 
grew  to  womanhood  in  Illinois.  To  our  subject 
and  wife  have  been  born  five  children:  Arthur, 


of  the 

of   Illirn. 


\ 

^njk 


v 


o(  the 


PORTEAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


217 


Gertie,  Roy,  Altha,and  Lizzie,  who  died  in  infancy. 
The  family  move  in  the  best  social  circles  of  the 
place,  and  are  active  workers  in  the  Grove  City 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  to  which  the  Doctor 
and  his  wife  belong,  the  former  being  one  of  its 
officers. 

Our  subject  is  greatly  interested  in  civic  soci- 
eties, is  a  member  of  the  Odd  Fellows'  Lodge  of  this 
place  and  has  passed  all  the  chairs.  He  is  Past 
Grand  and  has  represented  the  lodge  in  the  Grand 
Lodge.  He  is  now  Deputy  Grand  Master,  and  is 
also  a  member  of  the  Taylorville  Encampment.  He 
is  a  true-blue  Republican,  having  voted  for  every 
Presidential  nominee  of  that  party  since  the  elec- 
tion of  1872.  He  has  been  alwa3rs  a  hearty  sup- 
porter of  public  schools,  and  one  of  the  prime 
movers  in  securing  the  graded  schools  of  which  the 
citizens  of  this  place  are  so  justly  proud. 


CHENEY,  one  of  the  enterprising 
[M»  and  successful  farmers  of  Christian  County, 
Ijbz?'  whose  home  is  just  outside  the  corporation 
|H  limits  of  Taylorville,  claims  Ohio  as  the 
State  of  his  nativity,  his  birth  having  occurred  in 
Coshocton  County,  on  the  30th  of  November,  1842. 
His  parents,  Abraham  and  Jeannette  (Evans)  Che- 
ney, were  both  natives  of  Pennsylvania.  In  1824, 
the  father  left  the  State  of  his  nativity  and  removed 
to  Ohio,  where  he  remained  until  1843,  when  he  em- 
igrated to  Illinois.  Locating  in  Sangamon  County, 
he  there  made  his  home  until  1870,  which  year 
witnessed  his  arrival  in  Taylorville.  His  death 
occurred  in  that  city  September  22,  1887,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-nine  years,  six  months  and  ten  days. 
By  occupation  he  was  a  farmer,  and  followed  agri- 
cultural pursuits  during  the  greater  part  of  his 
life.  His  wife  had  passed  away  several  years  pre- 
vious to  the  death  of  her  husband,  dying  Septem- 
ber 26,  1875,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight.  The 
family  numbered  eight  children,  of  whom  Harry 
is  seventh  in  order  of  birth.  John,  the  eldest, 
has  made  his  home  in  Colusa,  Cal.,  since  1852; 


Thomas  died  in  Taylorville;  Amon  died  at  the 
age  of  thirty-two,  leaving  a  family,  and  his  son, 
Thomas  H.  Cheney,  of  Springfield,  is  now  Court 
Stenographer;  Talitha  became  the  wife  of  Dr.  W.  J. 
Chamblain,  of  Mason  City,  111.,  and  both  are  now 
deceased;  Rebecca  C.  is  the  wife  of  Alpheus  Lewis, 
and  resides  in  Roscville,  III.;  Elizabeth,  wife  of 
J.  R.  Johnson,  is  now  keeping  house  for  her 
brother  Harry,  who  is  the  next  younger  in  the 
family;  and  Margaret  Ellen  is  the  widow  of  J.  E. 
Bradley,  of  Springfield. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  acquired  a  good 
English  education  in  the  schools  of  Springfield. 
He  was  reared  to  manhood  in  Sangamon  County, 
having  been  only  a  year  old  at  the  time  of  his 
parents'  removal  thither.  His  education  was  com- 
pleted by  a  course  in  a  commercial  school  at  St. 
Louis,  and  when  he  had  completed  his  studies  in 
that  line  he  secured  a  position  as  clerk  in  the  post- 
office  of  that  city,  serving  for  four  years  under 
Presidents  Buchanan  and  Lincoln.  Subsequently 
he  was  made  Deputy  Marshal  for  St.  Louis  County, 
and  in  a  prompt  and  faithful  manner  discharged 
the  duties  of  that  office  for  two  and  a-half  years. 
On  his  return  to  Springfield,  Mr.  Cheney  em- 
barked in  the  drug  business,  which  he  carried  on 
for  several  years,  and  in  the  spring  of  1870  turned 
his  attention  to  agricultural  pursuits,  whicli  he  has 
since  followed.  The  farm  which  he  now  owns  was 
mainly  improved  by  his  brother  Amon,  and  after 
his  death  was  carried  on  by  the  father,  until  he  too 
departed  this  life,  when  our  subject  purchased  it. 
It  comprises  one  hundred  acres  of  rich  and  val 
uable  land  and  lies  just  west  of  the  corporation 
limits  of  Taylorville.  The  fields  are  well  tilled, 
and  the  neat  and  thrifty  appearance  of  the  place 
indicates  the  careful  supervision  of  the  owner. 
Mr.  Cheney  has  made  a  specialty  of  breeding,  rais- 
ing and  selling  fine  stock  and  now  has  a  fine  herd 
of  about  twenty  Jersey  cows.  He  supplies  cream 
to  the  restaurants  of  the  city  and  has  upon  his 
farm  a  cold  storage  warehouse,  in  which  to  keep 
his  cream  and  milk.  He  also  raises  hogs,  and  has 
some  fine  horses.  His  land  is  a  beautiful  tract,  and 

j   the  place  is  one  of  the  model  farms  of  the  county. 
Mr.  Cheney  has  always  been  a  supporter  of  the 

j  Democratic  party,  having  been  a  war  advocate  of 


218 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


its  principles.  His  first  Presidential  vote  was  cast 
for  George  B.  McClellan  in  1864.  In  1880,  he  was 
elected  Township  Supervisor  by  a  handsome  ma- 
jority, and  discharged  his  duties  with  credit  to 
himself  and  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  constituents, 
being  a  prudent  and  painstaking  officer.  Socially, 
he  is  connected  with  Mystic  Lodge  No.  64,  K.  P. 
For  almost  a  quarter  of  a  century,  Mr.  Cheney 
has  now  lived  in  Christian  County,  and  through- 
out the  community  in  which  he  now  makes  his 
home  he  is  widely  and  favorably  known. 


il/ATTEN  GASKINS  is  an  old  resident  and 
W  jlj  prominent  farmer,  who  makes  his.  home  on 
ill^  section  16,  King  Township.  He  is  a  native 
(|S^  of  Illinois,  having  been  born  in  Saline 
County,  May  6,  1835,  to  Wilson  G.  Gaskins,  whose 
birth  occurred  in  Howard  County,  Ky.  The  fa- 
ther grew  to  manhood  in  his  native  State,  and 
came  to  Illinois  at  an  early  day,  becoming  a  resi- 
dent of  Gallatine  County,  afterward  a  part  of  Sa- 
line County,  in  1812.  He  was  one  of  eleven  chil- 
dren. In  1818  he  married  Lydia  Bracken,  who 
was  a  native  of  North  Carolina.  He  died  at  the 
age  of  seventy-seven  years,  about  1872,  on  the 
farm  where  he  had  resided  for  so  many  years. 
Both  he  and  his  wife  were  members  of  the  Baptist 
Church,  and  in  politics  he  was  a  Democrat. 

Hatten  Gaskins  is  one  of  eleven  children,  and 
passed  his  boyhood  and  youth  at  his  birthplace. 
He  received  a  limited  education  in  the  subscrip- 
tion schools  of  the  day,  but  as  the  family  was  large 
lie  was  early  set  to  work,  and  at  the  age  of  eigh- 
teen commenced  to  be  self-supporting.  His  ambi- 
tion was  to  possess  a  good  farm,  but  though  he 
was  industrious  it  was  man}'  years  before  his  wish 
was  fulfilled. 

In  1861  Mr.  Gaskins  came  to  this  county  from 
Montgomery  County,  where  he  had  married  Miss 
Delia  Davis,  who  was  born  on  the  Lamoille  River, 
twelve  miles  from  Burlington.  Her  father, 


Davis,  was  a  native  of  Vermont,  and  her  grand- 
father was  under  Ethan  Allen  at  the  capture  of 
Ticonderoga.  Mr.  Davis  had  the  contract  for 
furnishing  the  first  telegraph  poles  in  the  United 
States.  He  died  in  Fremont,  Neb.,  in  1872. 

In  1857  our  subject  purchased  eighty  acres  of 
land  in  this  county,  and  four  years  later  settled 
permanently  upon  it.  He  bought  two  hundred 
and  forty  acres  at  the  rate  of  $12  per  acre.  The 
land  was  in  a  wild  condition,  and  often  herds  of 
from  thirty  to  forty  deer  were  seen  grazing  near 
his  home.  He  has  converted  his  land,  which  was 
mainly  a  swamp,  into  its  present  condition.  Mr. 
Gaskins  has  considerable  inventive  genius,  and  in 
October,  1892,  received  a  patent  on  a  pump  of  an 
improved  type.  He  also  has  invented  a  windmill, 
which  is  so  constructed  that  it  is  better  able  to  re- 
sist wind  storms  than  most  on  the  market. 

The  marriage  of  our  subject  was  celebrated  on 
Christmas  Day,  1857,  and  by  the  union  have  been 
born  the  following  children:  Henry,  who  died  at 
the  age  of  nine  years;  Fannie,  wife  of  Samuel 
Balsley,  a  farmer  of  King  Township;  Rosa  May, 
who  lives  in  Ellis,  Kan.,  and  is  the  wife  of  Lewis 
Morton;  Berry,  who  is  at  home  on  the  farm;  and 
Betsy,  wife  of  Edwin  Vigal,  of  this  township. 
They  are  all  well  educated  and  have  made  a  good 
start  in  life.  Our  subject  and  his  wife  have  seven 
grandchildren,  of  whom  they  are  very  proud. 
They  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  and  were  among  the  charter  members  of 
the  church,  which  formerly  convened  in  the  little 
log  schoolhouse  of  the  neighborhood.  Mr.  Gas- 
kins  himself  built  the  first  schoolhouse  in  King 
Township,  in  1867. 

The  first  ballot  of  our  subject  was  cast  for 
Buchanan  and  he  was  one  of  the  Democratic  party 
until  two  years  ago.  He  is  now  a  member  of  the 
Farmers'  Alliance,  and  as  the  author  of  the  Farm- 
ers' Alliance  Song  Book  is  well  known  in  all 
parts  of  the  Union.  He  has  attended  all  of  the 
principal  meetings  of  the  organization,  and  was  at 
the  Omaha  Convention,  which  was  composed  of 
sixteen  hundred  and  forty  delegates.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  local  Alliance  and  is  a  leading  man 
of  his  party.  A  good  singer,  his  voice  has  been 
often  heard  in  the  meetings  and  he  is  the  chief  ex- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


219 


ponent  of  the  Alliance  in  this  neighborhood.  He 
is  a  natural  poet,  and  lias  been  called  the  poet  of 
the  county.  It  is  his  intention  to  rent  his  farm 
and  devote  himself  to  making  known  the  merits 
of  his  inventions.  During  the  thirty-two  years  he 
has  lived  in  this  county  he  lias  been  a  witness  of 
the  great  changes  that  have  taken  place.  Taylor- 
ville  was  then  a  small  place,  with  only  one  church. 
He  was  often  several  weeks  on  the  journey  to  and 
from  the  nearest  trading  point,  and  the  roads  were 
so  bad  that  it  took  two  days  to  go  fifteen  miles  to 
the  mill.  In  1859  he  went  to  the  Rocky  Mount- 
ains, across  the  plains  by  team,  and  was  twenty- 
four  days  going  to  the  Missouri  River  and  twen- 
ty-one days  on  the  return  from  that  point.  He 
spent  seven  months  in  the  mountains  and  was  one 
of  the  second  part}'  to  enter  the  region.  He  made 
considerable  out  of  his  venture,  and  his  wife  has  a 
ring  which  was  made  from  the  gold  he  obtained. 
Everything  in  the  West  was  extremely  high,  and 
he  has  paid  as  high  as  $24  for  a  small  sack  of  flour. 


ffi  SABEL  (BAKER)  BERRY,  who  lives  on  sec- 
||  tion  11,  Johnson  Township,  came  with  her 
/i.  parents  to  Christian  County  in  her  young 
womanhood  and  has  since'  passed  her  life  in  this 
county.  Her  husband  was  for  many  years  a  promi- 
nent and  respected  citizen  of  this  county,  which 
in  his  death  met  with  a  severe  loss.  The  birtli  of 
Mrs.  Berry  occurred  in  York  County,  Pa.,  on  the 
14th  of  November,  1830.  Her  father,  Henry  Ba- 
ker, was  born  in  the  same  county  in  1802.  He 
has  now  passed  away  and  lies  buried  in  Clark 
Cemetery,  of  Johnson  Township.  His  wife,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Mary  Klinefelter,  was  born  in 
1804,  and  grew  to  womanhood  in  York  County, 
Pa. 

Our  subject  is  the  second  in  order  of  birth  in  a 
family  of  ten  children.  Alexander,  the  eldest,  is 
deceased;  Matilda  is  the  wife  of  Richard  Johnson, 
a  resident  of  this  township;  Surilla  is  deceased; 
Jacob,  William,  Hester  Ann  and  Samuel  have  also 


passed  away;  Eliza  is  the  wife  of  Henry  Ebert,  and 
lives  in  California;  and  Mary,  who  was  the  wife  of 
Matthew  Stone,  is  deceased,  and  with  her  husband 
lies  buried  in  Oak  Hill  Cemetery.  The  father  of 
this  family  died  in  1880.  He  followed  the  life  oc- 
cupation of  farming,  and  carried  on  a  farm  in  this 
county.  His  wife  died  in  the  prime  of  life,  in  the 
year  1849. 

The  marriage  of  Mrs.  Berry  was  celebrated  in 
1850,  when  she  gave  her  heart  and  hand  to  Thomas 
H.  Berry,  who  was  born  in  Montgomeiy  County, 
111.,  in  1828.  To  them  were  born  three  children. 
Henry  H.  is  an  enterprising  carpenter  and  builder, 
a  resident  of  Taylorville;  John  T.  is  a  well-to-do 
agriculturist  of  Johnson  Township;  and  Mary 
Jane,  wife  of  Allen  Raiborn,  lives  on  the  old 
homestead  with  her  mother.  Mrs.  Berry  has  five 
grandchildren,  namely:  John,  Eunice,  Grace  I., 
Daisy  and  Goldie  May.  John  Berry  has  resided 
for  several  years  with  his  grandmother,  and  has 
been  of  great  assistance  to  her  in  carding  on  the 
home  farm.  He  is  a  young  man  who  is  very  am- 
bitious, and  who  fully  realizes  of  what  benefit  a 
thorough  education  is  to  a  man  in  the  battle  of 
life.  This  winter  he  expects  to  teach  school  and  af- 
terwards attend  the  business  college  at  Springfield, 
111.  He  is  a  young  man  who  is  bound  to  suc- 
ceed and  who  has  a  future  of  great  promise  before 
him. 

The  homestead  owned  and  operated  by  Mrs. 
Berry  is  one  of  the  best  in  the  township.  Of  this, 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  are  situated  on  the 
prairie,  and  forty  acres  are  timber-land.  During 
his  lifetime  Mr.  Berry  served  in  various  local  po- 
sitions of  responsibility  and  honor  to  the  satis- 
faction of  his  friends  and  neighbors.  Among  others 
he  was  Highway  Commissioner,  and  also  served  as 
one  of  the  School  Directors.  His  influence  and 
ballot  were  used  in  behalf  of  the  Democratic  party. 
For  a  period  of  over  twenty  years  he  was  a  faith- 
ful and  consistent  member  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church.  In  1873,  he  was  called  from  his 
labors,  being  stricken  with  malarial  fever.  He 
lies  buried  in  the  United  Brethren  Church  Ceme- 
tery. During  his  entire  life,  which  was  spent  in 
the  Prairie  State,  he  followed  agricultural  pur- 
suits,and  was  an  honorable,  upright  man,  whom  to 


220 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


know  was  to  love.  His  name  deserves  to  be  placed 
among  the  worthy  pioneers  who  did  so  much  in 
the  development  and  preparation  of  the  State  for 
the  prosperity  and  success  which  have  now  be- 
come assured.  Mrs.  Berry  is  well  and  favorably 
known  in  this  community  as  a  lady  of  good  ed- 
ucation, right  judgment  and  business  ability. 
Since  her  husband's  death  she  has  managed  the 
farm  most  creditably,  and  has  shown  herself  most 
capable  to  direct  the  management  of  a  large  farm. 


JOHN  GORE  is  one  of  the  early  pioneers  of 
Christian  County,  having  arrived  here  with 
his  parents  in  1830.     He  is  an  honored  resi- 
dent  of   Taylorville   Township,   and    cul- 
tivates his  valuable  farm   on   section  7.     He  was 
born  in  Trigg  County,  Ky.,  near  Cadiz,  August  9, 
1825,  and   has  consequently    passed  all  but  five 
years  of  his  life  in  the  community  where  he  yet 
makes  his  home. 

Our  subject's  parents,  John  and  Sophia  Gore, 
were  natives  of  Kentucky,  who  made  their  home 
for  several  3'ears  after  their  mairiage  in  the  Blue 
Grass  State.  Believing  that  they  could  do  better 
in  a  newer  country,  they  started  with  their  family 
and  earthly  possessions  by  ox-teams  to  Illinois, 
where  the  father  took  up  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  Government  land  on  the  present  site  of 
Taylorville.  This  property,  for  which  he  paid 
$1.25  per  acre,  was  situated  where  the  Baxter  Ele- 
vator now  stands. 

Our  subject  grew  to  manhood  in  this  county 
and  obtained  his  education  in  the  subscription 
schools,  which  were  held  in  log  schoolhouses  from 
three  to  four  miles  from  his  home.  He  can  well 
remember  when  there  was  not  a  house  in  Taylor- 
ville. Remaining  with  his  parents  until  he  had 
reached  his  majority,  he  then  purchased  forty  acres 
of  land,  for  which  he  paid  $150,150  of  the  amount 
down  and  the  rest  to  be  paid  in  several  years. 
This  land  was  entirely  wild  and  a  portion  was 
heavily  timbered.  In  order  to  pay  the  remainder, 


our  subject  began  working  for  $10  per  month  at 
farm  labor  and  continued  thus  employed  for  sev- 
eral years.  In  the  mean  time  he  made  many  sub- 
stantial improvements  upon  his  place,  which  he 
afterward  sold  and  then  bought  a  Mexican  land 
warrant  for  one  hundred  and  forty-five  acres  on 
section  7,  Taylorville  Township.  This  place  has 
since  been  his  home.  It  was  mostly  prairie  and 
unimproved.  He  built  a  log  cabin,  which  in  later 
years  was  supplanted  by  his  substantial  resi- 
dence. In  his  boyhood  the  nearest  trading  point 
was  Springfield.  He  was  always  an  incfustrious 
worker  and  was  many  times  employed  at  cutting 
and  splitting  rails.  This  occupation  was  not  very 
remunerative,  but  he  was  economical  and  managed 
to  board  himself  while  receiving  only  twenty-five 
cents  per  hundred  rails. 

In  July,  1862,  Mr.  Gore  enlisted  in  the  Union 
service  for  three  years  as  a  private  of  Company  A, 
One  Hundred  and  Fifteenth  Illinois  Infantry. 
His  brother  William  also  enlisted  on  the  same  day 
in  the  same  company,  while  his  brother  Joseph 
joined  the  company  a  few  days  afterward.  They 
were  mustered  into  service  at  Camp  Butler,  and 
their  first  engagement  took  place  at  Franklin, 
Tenn.  Mr.  Gore  was  for  three  days  in  the  battle 
of  Chickamauga,  was  in  the  engagement  at  Resaca 
and  the  battles  of  Bull's  Gap,  Nashville  and  many 
others  of  less  note.  He  was  never  taken  prisoner 
or  wounded,  though  he  served  until  the  close  of 
the  war  and  was  often  in  the  front  of  the  battle. 
He  suffered  many  privations  and  was  often  sent 
on  forced  marches.  During  his  service  he  lived 
for  a  day  and  a-half  on  eighteen  grains  of  coffee) 
being  otherwise  entirely  without  food.  He  re- 
ceived an  honorable  discharge  in  1855,  after  hav- 
ing made  a  record  of  which  he  may  well  be  proud. 
He  was  a  soldier  on  whom  his  superiors  could 
safely  rely,  and  ably  defended  the  Nation  in  her 
hour  of  need. 

Returning  to  his  home,  Mr.  Gore  took  up  the 
work  on  his  farm  and  has  since  devoted  his  entire 
attention  to  its  improvement.  He  was  married  in 
1870  to  Miss  Harriet  Welch,  who  died  about  a 
year  later,  and  was  placed  to  rest  in  Buckhart 
Cemetery.  Mr.  Gore  has  been  a  Republican 
since  the  organization  of  the  party,  but  though 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


221 


interested  in  politics  has  never  been  an  office- 
seeker.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church, 
and  a  Grand  Army  man.  His  success  in  life  is 
justly  merited,  for  he  began  at  the  very  bottom 
round  of  the  ladder,  as  did  many  of  this  Nation's 
brave  sons,  and  has  steadily  progressed  in  fortune 
and  the  esteem  of  his  fellow-citizens. 


JOHNSON  is  one  of  the  influen- 
IWf  tial  farmers  of  Johnson  Township,  his  home 
tfc  fli  being  on  section  14.  He  is  a  native  of  the 
Buckeye  State,  born  May  14,  1830,  in  Cadiz 
and  is  a  son  of  William  and  Elizabeth  (Orr)  John- 
son, who  were  both  natives  of  Washington  County, 
Pa.,  where  they  grew  to  manhood  and  womanhood. 

Richard  Johnson  is  one  of  six  children,  of  whom 
he  is  next  to  the  youngest.  His  eldest  brother, 
James,  is  deceased,  and  was  buried  in  Louisville, 
Ky.;  Margaret,  who  was  next  in  order  of  birth,  and 
was  formerly  a  resident  of  Waterbury,  Conn.,  is 
now  deceased;  Albert  was  one  of  the  devoted 
missionaries  to  India  and  was  killed  in  the  mutiny 
in  1848,  about  seven  hundred  miles  from  Calcutta; 
Junius  C.  died  in  Ohio;  William,  who  was  in  In- 
dia for  a  few  years,  is  now  President  of  the  Biddle 
Institute  in  North  Carolina,  and  is  a  man  of  supe- 
rior attainments.  The  father  of  these  children  died 
in  1837,  and  was  buried  in  Cadiz,  Ohio.  His  wife 
died  three  years  later  and  was  placed  in  her  last 
resting-place  in  Washington  County,  Pa.,  which 
was  also  the  county  of  her  birth. 

Our  subject  was  early  deprived  of  his  father's 
guidance  and  mother's  loving  care,  for  he  was  only 
a  child  of  seven  years  on  the  death  of  the  former, 
and  three  years  later  occurred  his  mother's  death. 
He  was  therefore  early  obliged  to  strike  out  and 
make  his  own  livelihood.  He  obtained  employ- 
ment in  a  tannery  and  worked  at  that  business  for 
six  years  in  Ohio.  In  1859  he  wedded  Matilda 
Baker,  who  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  and  with  her 
parents  removed  to  Clarke  County,  Ohio.  With 


her  parents,  she  later  settled  in  Christian  County, 
111.  They  were  natives  of  Washington  County, 
Pa.,  and  were  of  Scotch  and  Irish  descent.  They 
became  residents  of  these  parts  in  1854,  when  the 
county  was  a  wilderness.  Our  subject  and  wife  be- 
came the  parents  of  eight  children.  Margaret  mar- 
ried James  Hawkins,  of  Johnson  Township;  Will- 
iam, who  is  deceased,  lies  buried  in  the  Taylorville 
cemetery;  Mary  became  the  wife  of  Henry  Dappert, 
a  farmer  of  Johnson  Township;  Drusilla  and  80- 
phronia  are  at  home;  Rebecca  is  married  and  re- 
sides on  the  homestead;  Matthew  is  also  at  home; 
and  Rachel  died  in  infancy. 

The  farm  belonging  to  our  subject  is  well 
improved  and  comprises  four  hundred  and  seventy 
acres.  The  owner  is  one  of  the  enterprising  farm- 
ers of  the  township  and  is  thoroughly  familiar 
with  the  duties  pertaining  to  farm  work.  He  is  a 
stanch  Republican,  prior  to  the  organization  of 
which  party  he  affiliated  with  the  Whigs.  His  first 
vote  in  a  Presidential  election  was  cast  for  Winfield 
Scott.  For  many  years  after  coming  to  this  county, 
the  father  of  our  subject  was  well  known  as  one  of 
the  pioneer  plrysicians.  In  everything  pertaining 
to  the  upbuilding  of  the  community  in  which  he 
dwells,  Mr.  Johnson  is  active  and  interested,  and 
is  a  believer  in  giving  the  rising  generation  the 
best  possible  advantages  in  the  way  of  an  educa- 
tion. He  has  served  as  one  of  the  School  Directors, 
and  is  ever  to  be  found  on  the  side  of  progress. 


ICHARD  KIMBALL  is  one  of  the  enterpris- 
ing merchants  of  Mt.  Auburn,  and  has 
i  resident  of  Christian  County  for 
three  decades.  He  carries  a  well-selected 
stock  of  general  merchandise  and  has  a  well-estab- 
lished business.  He  is  accounted  one  of  the  sub- 
stantial citizens  of  the  county,  and  by  his  methods 
of  fair  dealing  has  established  an  enviable  reputa- 
tation. 

Mr.  Kimball  is  a  native  of  Vermont,  born  near 
Montpelier,  Washington    County,  May    21,   1846. 


222 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


His  grandfather,  Richard  Kimball,  was  born  in 
Boston,  Mass.,  and  was  of  Scotch  parentage,  his 
ancestors  having  lived  in  the  Highlands  of  Scot- 
laud.  Coming  to  the  United  States,  they  settled 
in  New  England  prior  to  the  War  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. For  a  number  of  years,  Richard  Kimball 
was  engaged  in  business  in  Boston. 

Nathan  Allen  Kimball,  the  father  of  our  sub- 
ject, was  born  and  grew  to  manhood  in  Vermont. 
He  there  married  Sarah  Stagg,  also  a  native  of  the 
Green  Mountain  State,  and  after  that  event  he 
engaged  in  milling  and  merchandising  for  many 
years.  In  1855,  he  concluded  to  seek  his  fortune 
in  the  West,  and,  coming  to  Illinois,  settled  in 
Rochester,  where  he  engaged  in  the  same  business. 
He  died  in  1860.  His  wife,  who  survived  him  for 
a  number  of  years,  passed  away  in  Missouri. 

In  the  family,  comprising  three  sons  and  three 
daughters,  Richard  Kimball  is  the  second  in  order 
of  birth.  One  sister  has  since  passed  to  the  home 
beyond.  Our  subject  was  only  nine  years  old 
when  his  parents  brought  him  to  Illinois.  He  was 
given  good  school  advantages,  and  in  1863,  when 
in  his  seventeenth  year,  he  came  to  this  county 
and  entered  the  employ  of  M.  Stafford  &  Co.  as 
a  clerk.  He  continued  with  this  firm  for  ten  years 
and  received  a  thorough,  practical  business  train- 
ing. In  1873,  Mr.  Kimball  bought  out  the  old 
firm  and  succeeded  to  the  business.  Since  that 
time  he  has  carried  it  on  alone  and  has  been  fort- 
unate in  his  management  of  the  enterprise. 

In  Christian  County,  on  the  26th  of  February, 
1873,  a  marriage  ceremony  was  performed  which 
united  the  destinies  of  Mr.  Kimball  and  Miss 
Frances  J.  Henderson.  Her  father,  John  A.  Hen- 
derson, is  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  this  county, 
and  is  a  son-in-law  of  old  Gen.  Whitesides,  of 
southern  Illinois.  Mrs.  Kimball  was  born  in  Mad- 
ison County,  111.,  and  by  her  marriage  has  become 
the  mother  of  four  children.  The  eldest,  John  A., 
is  a  talented  young  man.  The  younger  mem- 
bers of  the  family  are  called  respective^-:  Pearl, 
Grace  and  Cora.  The  parents  hold  membership 
with  the  Christian  Church.  Mr.  Kimball  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  is  a  Royal  Arch 
Mason,  and  a  member  of  Illiopolis  Chapter.  The 
political  support  of  Mr.  Kimball  is  given  to  the 


Democratic  party  on  all  national  issues.  He  has 
found  his  time  and  energies  necessarily  devoted 
to  his  business  interests,  and  has  therefore  never 
accepted  official  honors.  He  is  well  known  to  be  a 
man  whose  word  is  as  good  as  his  bond,  and  in  all 
his  dealings  with  his  fellow-men  his  course  has 
been  marked  by  a  high  sense  of  honor  and  justice. 


*p  NDREW  J.  TAYLOR  is  a  native  Virgin- 
(^O|  ian,  and  from  his  earliest  years  has  been 

Ij  It  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits.  He  has 
(fjj  a  well-improved  farm  on  section  23,  Green- 
wood Township,  where  in  addition  to  general 
farming  he  devotes  considerable  attention  to  stock- 
raising.  He  has  seen  much  of  the  development  of 
this  county,  to  which  he  came  when  only  seven- 
teen years  of  age. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  the  eastern  part  of  Vir- 
ginia, in  Rockbridge  County,  June  3,  1850,  being 
a  son  of  Gabriel  and  Catherine  (Smith)  Taylor. 
The  former  was  a  son  of  Sinclair  Taylor,  who  was 
a  farmer  and  was  also  a  native  of  the  Old  Domin- 
ion. John  Smith,  our  subject's  maternal  grand- 
father, was  probably  born  in  Germany,  as  he  spoke 
very  broken  English.  He  was  also  a  farmer  in 
Virginia,  and  lived  to  be  about  eighty-five  years 
of  age.  Gabriel  Taylor  owned  and  operated  a 
farm  in  his  native  county,  and  was  called  from 
this  life  in  early  manhood.  He  and  his  wife  were 
members  of  the  United  Brethren  Church.  They 
were  the  parents  of  five  children,  only  two  of 
whom  are  now  living:  Mary,  wife  of  John  Suther- 
land, of  Brownsburg,  Va.;  and  Andrew  J.,  whose 
name  heads  this  sketch. 

The  boyhood  and  youth  of  our  subject  were 
passed  on  his  father's  farm  in  Virginia.  He  re- 
mained on  the  old  homestead  until  seventeen 
years  of  age,  when  he  started  out  to  make  his  own 
way  in  the  world.  He  came  directly  to  Christian 
County,  arriving  here  when  Taylorville  was  a  very 
small  town,  having  no  railroads.  For  four  years 
he  lived  five  miles  west  of  Edinburgh,,  nt ter  which, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


223 


in  the  spring  of  1871,  he  moved  into  Greenwood 
Township,  where  he  rented  and  operated  a  farm 
for  six  years.  By  carefully  husbanding  his  means, 
he  acquired  enough  money  to  purchase  a  farm  of 
eighty  acres,  which  is  located  on  section  23.  He 
has  made  substantial  improvements  and  has  thus 
materially  increased  its  value.  For  a  number  of 
years  he  has  raised  horses,  sheep  and  hogs  exten- 
sively, and  is  now  one  of  the  leading  farmers  of 
the  township. 

In  this  county,  Mr.  Taylor  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Miss  Elmira  V.  Orr,  on  the  1st  of  De- 
cember, 1870.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Thomas  and 
Caroline  (Suddith)  Orr,  who  are  well  known  in 
Christian  County.  Seven  children  have  been  born 
to  our  subject  and  his  estimable  wife.  They  are 
as  follows:  Rena  C.,  William  A.,  Thomas  O.,  John 
W.,  Charles  A.,  Jesse  and  a  baby  boy. 

Mr.  Taylor  is  a  member  of  the  Modern  Wood- 
men of  America  and  is  identified  with  the  Farmers' 
Mutual  Benefit  Association.  The  cause  of  educa- 
tion finds  in  him  a  warm  friend,  and  for  a  period 
of  three  years  he  served  as  a  School  Director.  At 
the  present  time  he  is  acting  in  the  capacity  of 
Supervisor  of  the  township.  In  politics  he  sup- 
ports the  men  and  measures  of  the  People's  party. 
Whatever  fortune  he  now  possesses  is  the  result  of 
his  industry  and  untiring  energy,  for  be  started 
out  in  the  battle  of  life  without  a  dollar  capital, 
and  has  made  his  way  unassisted  by  the  money  or 
influence  of  others.  He  is  therefore  deserving  of 
great  respect,  and  is  held  in  high  regard  by  his 
friends.and  neighbors. 


JULIUS  A.  WOLFF  is  one  of  the   energetic 
business    men    of    Morrisonville,   being   a 
dealer,  packer  and  shipper  of   poultry   and 
eggs.     During  the  summer  season  he  gives 
employment  to  about  twelve  men,  and  in  the  win- 
ter to  about  fifty  hands.     He  has  been  engaged  in 
this  branch  of  business  for  a  number  of  years  and 
has  become  fairly  conversant  with  its  details. 


The  birth  of  Mr.  Wolff  occurred  in  Davenport, 
Iowa,  May  2,  1864,  his  parents  being  Joachim  and 
Julia  (Hensen)  Wolff,  who  were  natives  of  Ham- 
burg, Germany.  The  former  was  a  merchant 
tailor  in  the  Fatherland  and  came  to  America 
about  1840.  He  settled  in  Davenport,  Iowa,  where 
he  died  in  1886,  at  the  age  of  about  seventy-five 
years.  During  the  late  war  he  served  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Davenport  regiment,  and  in  one  en- 
gagement was  badly  wounded.  His  father,  Mi- 
chael D.  Wolff,  died  in  Germany  when  over  ninety 
years  of  age.  The  mother  of  our  subject  passed 
from  this  life  in  Burlington,  when  she  had  attained 
the  age  of  seventy  years.  Both  parents  were 
members  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church. 

Julius  A.  Wolff  is  one  of  five  children,  three 
daughters  and  two  sons,  only  two  of  whom  arc 
now  living.  His  only  sister,  Carolina,  is  the  wife 
of  Nicholas  Lau,  and  is  a  resident  of  Burlington, 
Iowa.  Our  subject  was  only  five  years  of  age 
when  his  parents  removed  from  Davenport  to  Bur- 
lington, where  he  was  reared  to  manhood  and  re- 
ceived his  education.  Upon  completing  his  stud- 
ies he  obtained  a  position  as  book-keeper  for  the 
Orchard  City  Packing  House,  of  Burlington,  and 
remained  in  the  employ  of  that  firm  for  eight 
years  and  a-half.  Going  to  Chicago,  Mr.  Wolff 
became  a  commercial  traveler  for  the  firm  of  Op- 
penheimer,  Casing  &  Co. 

The  first  commercial  venture  of  our  subject  was 
in  1886,  when  he  entered  into  partnership  with 
C.  E.  Hensen,  and  opened  a  poultry  and  produce 
shippers'  office  in  Virden,  111.  In  time  they  en- 
larged their  business  and  opened  branch  houses  at 
Carlinville,  Farmersville  and  Morrisonville.  At 
the  end  of  a  year  they  dissolved  partnership,  Mr. 
Wolff  taking  the  Morrisonville  and  Farmersville 
houses,  and  Mr.  Hensen  keeping  the  other  two 
branches.  In  addition  to  his  business  interests, 
Mr.  Wolff  has  money  invested  in  good  property 
in  Farmersville  and  Morrisonville.  He  possesses 
good  business  ability  and  is  making  a  success  of 
his  various  enterprises. 

On  the  24th  of  September,  1887,  a  marriage  cer- 
emony was  performed  by  which  Miss  Augusta 
Hensen  became  the  wife  of  Mr.  Wolff.  She  is  a 
daughter  of  Frederick  and  Magdalene  (Westphall) 


224 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Ilensen.  In  politics,  Mr.  Wolff  is  a  Democrat  and 
is  greatly  interested  in  the  success  of  that  party. 
Since  casting  his  lot  with  the  citizens  of  this  place 
he  has  been  active  in  promoting  her  best  interests 
and  is  a  public-spirited  man.  He  is  upright  and 
exact  in  his  business  dealings,  and  for  that  reason 
makes  friends  of  his  patrons. 


ELIJAH  A.  MILLER  is  one  of  the  respected 
old  settlers  of  Taylorville  Township,  hav- 
ing lived  on  his  present  farm  since  1850. 
This  property  is  situated  on  section  16,  and  has 
been  developed  from  the  wild  prairie  to  its  present 
thrifty  and  well-improved  condition  by  our  sub- 
ject, who  -has  acquired  a  good  farm  and  a  com- 
fortable competence  for  his  remaining  years.  He 
is  a  native  of  this  county,  having  been  born  in 
South  Fork  Township,  which  was  then  a  part  of 
Sangamon  County,  on  the  10th  of  March,  1825. 
His  parents  were  Samuel  and  Hannah  (Hainen) 
Miller,  who  were  of  German  and  Scotch-Irish  de- 
scent, respectively.  The  former  was  a  native  of 
Virginia,  and  the  latter  of  South  Carolina.  They 
were  the  parents  of  the  following  children:  Sal- 
lie,  Melinda,  Isaac,  Daniel,  Martin,  Levi,  Elijah, 
Jane,  Eli,  Charles,  and  two  who  died  in  infancy. 
Only  three  of  the  number  are  yet  living.  Martin 
and  Jane  are  residents  of  Saline  County,  Neb. 
The  former  is  a  retired  farmer. 

Samuel  Miller  removed  from  his  native  State  to 
Kentucky,  and  grew  to  manhood  in  Christian 
County  of  that  State.  He  was  a  farmer  and  maker 
of  weaver's  reeds.  In  1822,  he  came  to  Illinois 
and  settled  in  South  Fork  Township,  this  county, 
the  trip  overland  being  made  on  horseback.  He 
pre-empted  a  piece  of  Government  land,  for  which 
he  paid  Si. 25  per  acre.  In  the  early  days  he  gave 
as  high  as  one  hundred  per  cent,  on  borrowed 
money.  On  his  farm  he  erected  a  small  log  cabin, 
16x20  feet.  The  nearest  trading  point  was  at 
Springfield.  He  was  born  in  1790,  and  passed 


away  in  October,  1833,  having  been  a  member  of 
the  Universalist  Church.  His  wife  was  born  in 
1799,  and  died  in  1866. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  and  reared 
on  his  father's  farm  in  this  county,  and  his  educa- 
tion was  obtained  in  the  early  subscription  schools. 
The  first  one  he  ever  attended  was  taught  by 
Judge  Vandeveer  and  was  situated  nearly  a  mile 
and  a-half  from  his  home.  He  obtained  a  good 
business  education  largely  through  his  own  study 
and  diligence.  When  about  sixteen  years  of  age, 
he  began  teaching  school,  and  continued  during 
the  winter  months  in  that  occupation  until  in  his 
twenty-eighth  year.  From,  the  time  he  was  a 
youth  of  sixteen  years  he  took  charge  of  his 
mother's  old  homestead,  which  he  continued  to 
manage  until  1850. 

The  farm  on  which  Mr.  Miller  still  lives  was 
purchased  by  him  in  1850.  This  property  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  was  school  land  and  was 
purchased  at  the  rate  of  $1.75  per  acre.  He  has 
since  extended  its  boundaries  until  it  now  comprises 
two  hundred  and  seventy  acres,  where  he  carries 
on  general  farming  and  stock-raising.  At  the 
same  time  that  he  settled  on  this  place  he  married 
Miss  Jane  S.  Bishop,  who  was  born  in  Rochester, 
N.  Y.,  August  6,  1830. 

Six  children  have  been  born  to  our  subject  and 
wife.  Ada,  whose  birth  occurred  in  April,  1855,  is 
the  wife  of  H.  J.  Huffman,  who  is  a  school  teacher 
in  Seward  County,  Neb.;  Henry  died  November 
30,  1866;  Annie  died  in  infancy;  Jennie,  born 
October  22,  1862,  became  the  wife  of  O.E.  Badger, 
a  Methodist  minister;  Fannie,  wife  of  A.  J.  Ha}'- 
ward,  a  farmer  of  Taylorville  Township,  was  born 
July  6,  1864;  and  Alice,  the  youngest  of  the 
family,  born  JulyS,  1866,  died  September  19,  1869. 

The  first  vote  cast  by  Mr.  Miller  was  for  Frank- 
lin Pierce,  and  he  has  supported  the  Democratic 
party  ever  since  that  time.  A  number  of  times 
he  has  been  honored  with  various  township  offices, 
and  among  others  we  mention  that  of  Town- 
ship Collector,  School  Director  and  Trustee.  Mrs. 
Miller  holds  membership  with  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  The  family  is  highly  respected  and  have 
always  been  warmly  received  in  the  social  circles  ' 
of  the  neighborhood. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


225 


«|J  UGUSTUS  M.  SMITH.     One  of  the  exten- 

@/Llli  sive  land-owners  of  Christian  County, 
jr*  and  one  of  the  early  settlers,  is  the  gentle- 
^j/  man  whose  history  we  will  proceed  to 
briefly  trace.  His  home  is  located  on  section  15, 
South  Fork  Township.  His  birth  occurred  in 
Washington,  D.  C.,  January  11,  1836,  his  parents 
being  Justus  and  Catherine  (Hartner)  Smith,  who 
were  both  natives  of  Germany.  In  1828  the  father 
crossed  the  Atlantic  on  a  sailing-vessel,  which  con- 
sumed nine  weeks  in  making  the  voyage.  He  was 
a  baker  by  trade,  and  after  his  arrival  in  America 
located  in  Washington,  where  he  worked  at  his 
calling  for  a  few  years.  In  1835  he  came  to  Illi- 
nois by  stage  and  located  in  Greene  County, 
where  he  began  working  on  a  farm  by  the  month, 
receiving  $8  or  $9  for  his  services.  He  continued 
to  make  his  home  in  Greene  County  until  1844, 
when  he  came  to  Christian  Count3'  and  bought  an 
eighty-acre  tract  of  school  land  in  South  Fork 
Township.  He  erected  a  log  cabin  and  proceeded 
to  develop  a  good  farm  from  the  wild  prairie. 
Though  he  commenced  life  without  any  capital, 
he  was  in  good  circumstances  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  March,  1877.  His  wife, 
who  died  two  years  previous,  lies  buried  by  her 
husband  in  Bethany  Cemeteiy. 

Our  subject  is  one  of  a  family  of  six  children 
and  is  the  only  son.  His  sister  Johanna  is  the 
widow  of  Thomas  Melugin,  and  is  a  resident  of 
Edinburg,  111.;  Mary  is  deceased;  Catherine  is  the 
wife  of  John  Jysey,  a  farmer  of  this  township; 
Elizabeth  became  the  wife  of  Charles  Hanna,  who 
is  also  engaged  in  farming  in  South  Fork  Town- 
ship; and  Polly  is  deceased. 

Mr.  Smith  of  this  sketch  was  only  an  infant 
when  he  was  brought  by  his  parents  to  Illinois, 
and  with  them  came  to  Christian  County  when 
eight  years  of  age.  He  grew  to  manhood  on  his 
father's  farm  in  South  Fork  Township,  and  at- 
tended the  winter  term  of  school  in  the  nearest 
schoolhouse,  which  was  about  a  mile  and  a-half 
from  his  home.  The  school  advantages  of  that 
early  day  were  extremely  meagre,  and  his  education 
has  been  mainly  acquired  since  reaching  adult 
years.  He  remained  with  his  father  until  twenty- 
two  years  of  age,  when  he  started  on  his  own  ac- 


count as  a  farmer  on  forty  acres  of  raw  prairie 
land,  which  was  given  him  by  his  father.  On  this 
place  he  lived  for  about  eight  years,  and,  having 
made  many  improvements  upon  it,  he  then  sold 
it  to  good  advantage  and  moved  to  Taylorville, 
where  he  made  his  home  for  a  year.  His  next 
business  venture  was  the  purchase  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty-four  acres  on  section  15,  South  Fork 
Township,  the  farm  on  which  he  now  resides. 
He  has  extended  his  possessions  considerably  in 
later  years,  and  is  now  the  fortunate  owner  of 
nearly  seven  hundred  acres  of  well-cultivated  and 
valuable  land.  He  is  engaged  in  raising  general 
farm  products,  and  also  deals  considerably  in  stock. 
The  marriage  of  Mr.  Smith  took  place  on  the 
20th  of  May,  1863,  when  Miss  Elmira  Adams  be- 
came his  wife.  Two  children  have  been  born  of 
their  union:  Lizzie,  the  wife  of  William  Taylor,  a 
well-to-do  farmer  of  South  Fork  Township;  and 
Bessie,  who  died  when  three  years  of  age.  Polit- 
ically, Mr.  Smith  is  a  Democrat,  and  takes  a  great 
interest  in  political  and  general  affairs.  Though 
not  desirous  of  official  honors,  he  has  served  his 
township  as  Supervisor.  He  is  a  worthy  man  and 
patriotic  citizen,  who  is  devoted  to  the  promotion 
of  all  enterprises  which  have  for  their  object  the 
good  of  the  community  and  the  progress  of  his 
fellow-men. 


JA.  WHITECRAFf.    This  gentleman  is  well 
known  as  one  of  the  most  extensive  land- 
owners of  Christian  County  and  as  a  prom- 
inent citizen  who  is   always   to  be   found 
in  the  front   ranks   of  improvement.     His    well- 
equipped  farm  is   situated    on    section    25,  Soutli 
Fork  Township.     He  is  a  native  of  Bath  County, 
Ky.,  born  January  11,  1819,  and  is  a  son  of  John 
Whitecraft.     His  grandfather,  who    was   of  Irish 
descent,  was  reared  in  Lancaster,  Pa.     Thence  he 
removed   to   Tennessee,  and    later   to   Kentucky, 
where  his  death  occurred. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  a  native  of  Ten- 


226 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


nessee  and  was  eight  years  of  age  when  his  parents 
settled  in  Kentucky.  His  early  education  was 
limited,  and  he  was  early  inured  to  farm  work. 
On  arriving  at  suitable  years  he  married  Rachel 
Arnick,  a  native  of  Bath  County,  Ky.  On  the 
loth  of  September,  1835,  the  family  left  Kentucky 
and  started  for  the  Prairie  State,  reaching  Spring- 
field at  the  end  of  thirty  days.  Central  Illinois 
was  still  in  a  nearly  wild  condition,  and  wolves 
and  deer  yet  roamed  over  the  prairies.  On  the 
6th  of  April  of  the  following  year,  the  father 
came  to  this  county  and  made  a  settlement  on  the 
farm  which  is  now  owned  by  our  subject.  lie 
bought  a  claim  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres, 
paid  $4  per  acre,  and  entered  a  large  tract  of  land 
at  $1.25  per  acre.  The  prairie  was  without  fences, 
and  there  was  only  a  small  house,  containinga  large 
fireplace,  upon  the  farm  by  way  of  improvement. 
John  Whitecraft  became  the  owner  of  nearly  eight 
hundred  acres,  all  of  which  is  in  the  family.  He 
died  in  1847,  aged  sixty-two  years,  seven  months 
and  twenty  da3's,  and  was  buried  on  the  farm. 
His  wife  lived  to  reach  four-score  years  and  was 
killed  in  Springfield  by  a  runaway  team.  They 
were  both  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  in  politics  the  father  was  a  Whig.  He  was 
greatly  opposed  to  secret  societies. 

Our  subject  is  the  eldest  child  born  to  his  par- 
ents. Harvey  died  in  this  county,  as  did  also 
Ahisah,  the  next  younger;  Jane,  who  is  deceased, 
became  the  wife  of  a  Mr.  Williams,  of  Brush  Creek; 
John  lives  retired  from  business  and  resides  in 
Taylorville;  Silas  lives  in  Springfield;  and  George, 
who  is  also  retired  from  active  business,  lives  at 
Berry  Station. 

The  early  years  of  J.  A.  Whitecraft  were  passed 
in  Kentucky,  and  at  the  time  of  the  family's  emi- 
gration to  this  State  he  was  a  youth  of  sixteen 
years.  His  education  was  obtained  in  the  sub- 
scription schools  of  that  early  day,  and  he  learned 
to  be  an  expert  with  the  rifle,  cradle,  axe  and 
scythe.  He  continued  to  reside  at  home  until  his 
father's  death,  when  he  inherited  a  portion  ,of  the 
old  homestead,  a  tract  of  three  hundred  acres. 
He  has  since  greatly  extended  the  boundaries  of 
his  farm  and  may  well  be  proud  of  his  broad  estate, 
for  he  owns  in  one  body  fourteen  hundred  acres. 


He  is  engaged  in  general  farming  and  stock-raising 
and  has  met  with  unusual  success. 

Mr.  Whitecraft  is  a  good  citizen  and  has  been 
identified  with  the  progress  of  this  region  for 
fifty-seven  years.  His  first  Presidential  ballot  was 
cast  in  1840  for  W.  H.  Harrison.  He  has  seen  thir- 
teen elections  since  that  day,  and  the  last  time 
voted  for  the  grandson  of  the  Tippecanoe  hero. 
He  was  well  acquainted  with  President  Lincoln 
and  had  the  pleasure  of  voting  for  him.  His 
father  was  always  an  anti-slavery  man  and  left 
the  South  on  that  account. 


OSCAR  F.  MORRISON,  a  well-known  citizen 
of  Taylorville,  claims  New  Hampshire  as 
the  State  of  his  nativity.  The  place  of  his 
birth  is  in  the  city  of  Keene,  and  the  date  May 
22,  1837.  His  parents  were  David  and  Betsy 
Ann  (Wilson)  Morrison.  His  boyhood  days  were 
quietly  passed,  and  the  public  schools  afforded 
him  his  educational  privileges.  Since  the  age  of 
fifteen  he  has  made  his  own  way  in  the  world.  At 
that  time  he  began  learning  the  printer's  trade, 
serving  a  three-years  apprenticeship.  When  a 
young  man  of  twenty  years  he  determined  to  seek 
a  home  and  fortune  in  the  West,  for  he  believed 
that  better  privileges  were  here  afforded  than  in 
the  older  and  more  thickly  settled  States  of  the 
East.  In  consequence  he  arrived  in  Pana,  Christian 
County,  on  the  22d  of  July,  1857,  and  in  that 
place  and  in  Clinton  he  was  engaged  in  newspaper 
work  until  1866.  In  connection  with  Mahlon  De 
Levis  he  founded  and  published  the  Clinton  Pub- 
lic, which  he  carried  on  during  the  war. 

On  the  3d  of  October,  1861,  Mr.  Morrison  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Sarah  A.  Frink,  the 
ceremony  being  performed  on  the  site  of  their 
present  home.  The  lady  is  a  daughter  of  Judge 
W.  S.  and  Sarah  G.  (Grant)  Frink.  Her  father 
died  September  12,  1887,  of  paralysis,  in  his  nine- 
ty-seventh year.  Pie  was  the  last  survivor  in  a 
famity  of  twelve  children.  Throughout  Christian 
County  he  was  recognized  as  a  prominent  citizen. 


Tke  Library 

of  the 
Untartlty  of  Illlnoh 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


229 


He  laid  out  Frink's  Addition  to  the  city,  consist- 
ing of  eighteen  lots,  and  was  prominent  in  all  pub- 
lic affairs.  For  seventy-five  years  he  was  a  member 
of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  having  been  made  a 
Mason  in  North  Stonington,  Conn.,  in  1821.  He 
was  always  an  active  member  of  the  society,  was  a 
charter  member  of  Mound  Lodge,  and  took  the 
Knight  Templar  degree.  Further  mention  is  made 
of  Judge  Frink  on  another  page  of  this  work. 

After  the  death  of  her  mother  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Morrison  came  to  Taylorville,  in  186(5,  to  make 
their  home  with  the  Judge,  she  being  his  only  liv- 
ing child.  The  family  numbered  six  children, but 
one  died  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  one  at  seven  years, 
another  at  twenty-one,  and  two  in  early  childhood. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morrison  have  two  children:  Mary 
Emma,  who  is  employed  as  a  teacher  in  the  sixth 
grade  in  the  Taylorville  public  schools;  and  Lor- 
etta  Frink,  wife  of  Nathaniel  Gandy,  of  Taylor- 
ville. 

After  coming  to  this  city,  our  subject  spent  six 
years  in  the  store  of  C.  E.  Barnes  <fe  Co.,  of  Tay- 
lorville. In  politics,  he  is  a  Republican  and  a 
stanch  advocate  of  its  principles,  but  has  never 
been  an  aspirant  for  political  preferment.  His 
wife  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  also 
belongs  to  Hazelmere  Chapter  No.  221,  O.E.  S.,  of 
which  she  is  now  Treasuier.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morri- 
son hold  an  enviable  position  in  social  circles,  and 
have  many  friends  throughout  this  community,  in 
which  they  have  so  long  resided. 


JUDGE  WILLIAM  STANTON  FRINK,  de- 
ceased, was    one    of    Christian    County's 
leading   and    influential  citizens,  and   well 
deserves  representation  in   its  history.     He 
was  born  in  Lebanon,  New  London  County,  Conn., 
December  17,  1790,  and  was  a  son  of  William  and 
Wealthy  (Downer)  Frink,  who   were  also   natives 
of  the    Nutmeg   State.     The  family  is   of  Welsh 
origin,  and  was   founded  in  America  during  Col- 
onial days,  a  tract  of  land  being  granted  to  Isaac 
10 


Frink  by  King  George  III.  This  is  still  in  the 
possession  of  the  family.  The  father  of  our  sub- 
ject died  in  1850,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two.  He 
was  a  substantial  farmer  and  a  man  esteemed  for 
his  many  excellencies  of  character.  The  mother 
was  an  exemplary  Christian  lady,  who  did  much 
toward  molding  the  lives  of  her  children. 

The  primary  education  of  our  subject  was  sup- 
plemented by  study  in  an  academy  at  Westerly, 
R.  I.  He  remained  at  home  until  eighteen  years 
of  age,  and  during  the  succeeding  twelve  years 
engaged  in  teaching  in  Connecticut  and  New 
York.  In  1824,  he  made  a  voyage  to  Martinique 
as  supercargo  on  a  vessel  owned  by  Messrs.  Trum- 
bull,  Smith  &  Co.,  of  Stonington,  Conn.,  and  in 
1826  went  to  the  island  of  Trinidad,  where  he 
visited  the  grave  of  Commodore  Perry,  who  was 
there  interred.  In  February  of  the  following 
year  he  was  appointed  assignee  of  a  bankrupt 
concern,  and  his  duties  occupied  his  attention  for 
two  years.  In  1829  he  began  business  for  him- 
self at  his  old  home,  and  afterwards  spent  four 
years  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  in  mercantile  pursuits. 

During  a  business  trip  to  the  West,  Mr.  Frink 
was  so  impressed  with  the  future  prospects  of 
Illinois  that  he  determined  to  here  make  his  home, 
and  accordingly,  in  1837,  settled  on  Flat  Branch, 
in  the  southeastern  part  of  what  was  then  Sanga- 
mon  County,  where  he  entered  land  and  began 
farming.  In  1838  and  1839  he  took  an  active 
part  in  the  formation  of  Christian  County,  in 
which  was  included  his  farm.  There  he  success- 
fully carried  on  agricultural  pursuits  until  1853, 
when  he  removed  to  Taylorville,  where  he  spent 
his  remaining  days. 

Judge  Friuk  was  married  October  21,  1830,  to 
Sarah  Grace,  daughter  of  Nathan  Grant,  of  Troy, 
N.  Y.  She  was  born  September  22,  1808,  and 
died  November  24,  1866.  Two  children  survived 
her,  but  Emily  J.,  wife  of  William  M.  O'Farrell, 
of  New  York,  died  April  26,  1868.  Sarah  Ann, 
wife  of  Oscar  F.  Morrison,  is  now  living  in  Tay- 
lorville. 

Judge  Frink  was  frequently  honored  with  public 
office.  In  1837  he  was  appointed  Deputy  Sur- 
veyor of  Shelby  County,  and  from  1838  until 
1840  was  Postmaster  of  AHentown.  During  that 


230 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


time  lie  was  also  proprietor  of  what  was  known  as 
the  Halfway  House,  on  the  Great  Eastern  stage 
route,  and  there  frequently  entertained  Abraham 
Lincoln  and  Gen.  Baker.  In  1843  he  was  elected 
Probate  Judge  of  Christian  County,  and  served 
four  years.  He  afterwards  spent  five  years  in 
merchandising  in  Taylorville  with  marked  suc- 
cess, and  in  1863  was  appointed  Deputy  United 
States  Collector  of  Internal  Revenue  for  the  Third 
Division  of  the  Tenth  Congressional  District,  a 
position  which  he  held  until  his  resignation,  in 
1868,  from  which  time  he  lived  retired  until  his 
death. 

Judge  Friuk  served  as  a  private  in  the  War  of 
1812,  in  the  company  in  which  his  father  was 
Lieutenant.  For  his  faithful  and  efficient  service 
he  was  awarded  a  grant  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land,  forty  of  which  formed  a  part  of  the 
farm  which  he  owned  at  his  death.  In  politics, 
he  was  identified  with  the  Whig  and  Republican 
parties.  In  1841  he  became  a  member  of  the 
Baptist  Church,  and  throughout  his  life  was  a 
liberal  supporter  of  religious  and  benevolent 
work.  His  death  resulted  from  a  stroke  of  par- 
alysis, September  12,  1887,  in  his  ninety-seventh 
year.  Probably  no  -man  in  the  county  is  more 
widely  known,  and  none  is  held  in  higher  regard 
than  Judge  Frink,  who  is  numbered  among  the 
honored  pioneers,  to  whom  a  debt  of  gratitude 
is  due  for  the  prominent  part  which  they  took  in 
the  upbuilding  of  the  county  and  the  promotion 
of  its  best  interests. 


yiLLIAM   F.    GORE,    a    well-known    and 
wealthy  farmer  of  Taylorville  Township, 
has  for  many  years  made  his  home  on  sec- 
tion 12.     He  was  born  in  Trigg  County,  Ky.,  Oc- 
tober 31,  1828,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and    Sophia 
(Barten)  Gore,  the  former  of  Irish  descent  and  a 
native    of   South    Carolina.      The    father    was    a 
farmer  by  occupation   throughout  life,  and  was 
only  a  boy    when   his  parents  removed    to  Ken- 


tucky. There  he  lived  until  1830,  when  he  came 
to  what  is  now  a  part  of  Christian  County.  He 
located  on  a  tractof  land  in  Taylorville  Township, 
and  for  two  years  lived  in  a  log  cabin,  which  he 
erected  on  the  land.  Then,  removing  to  South 
Fork  Township,  he  entered  a  piece  of  land,  which 
is  now  the  home  of  our  subject.  This  property  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  on  sections  12  and  13 
was  unimproved  prairie,  which  was  held  at  $1.25 
per  acre. 

On  his  tiew  farm,  Mr.  Gore  erected  a  log  cabin, 
16x18  feet,  in  which  he  made  his  home  for  a  num- 
ber of  years.  The  Indians  were  very  numerous 
at  that  time,  but  were  not  troublesome  until  the 
Black  Hawk  War.  When  he  came  to  Illinois  he 
made  the  trip  with  ox-teams.  For  years  he  was 
obliged  to  do  his  trading  in  Springfield,  and  in 
order  to  find  a  market  for  his  stock  drove  them 
to  St.  Louis.  He  participated  in  the  War  of  1812, 
while  his  father  was  one  of  the  heroes  of  the  Rev- 
olution. He  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Church,  and  was  active  in  the  organization  of 
schools  and  roads. 

Our  subject's  mother  died  in  1831.  Her  family 
comprised  the  following  children:  Mary,  widow  of 
Homer  Wright,  of  Missouri;  James,  deceased,  and 
Mary  J.,  twins;  Margaret,  who  died  in  1824;  John, 
a  farmer  of  Taylorville  Township;  Rebecca,  who 
lives  at  Friend,"  Neb.,  and  is  the  wife  of  Jacob 
Slieble;  Joseph,  a  retired  farmer  of  Taylorville; 
William  F.,  our  subject;  and  Ben  ton  F.,  who  died  in 
1883.  There  was  one  child,  Sophia,  who  is  now 
deceased,  born  of  the  second  union  of  our  sub- 
ject's father. 

From  boyhood,  William  F.  Gore  was  trained  to 
agricultural  duties,  and  from  the  age  of  two  years 
has  been  a  resident  of  this  county.  His  education 
was  obtained  in  the  subscription  schools  of  those 
•early  days,  which  were  kept  only  two  or  three 
months  during  the  winter.  He  walked  often  as 
far  as  three  miles  to  the  log  schoolhouse,  where 
he  was  a  student  until  sixteen  years  of  age.  He 
remained  upon  his  father's  homestead  until  he 
reached  his  majority,  after  which  he  worked  for 
farmers  by  the  month  for  a  year,  receiving  $12 
per  month.  During  the  summer  he  farmed  a  piece 
of  rented  land  for  four  years,  and  in  the  winter 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD 


231 


worked  at  various  occupations.  Returning  then 
to  the  old  farm,  he  took  charge  of  the  same  until 
his  father's  death.  He  now  owns  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  of  the  old  homestead,  and  has 
since  extended  the  boundaries  of  his  farm  to  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres. 

In  August,  1862,  Mr.  Gore  enlisted  as  a  private 
soldier  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes  and  was  en- 
gaged as  First  Duty  Sergeant,  being  mustered  into 
service  at  Springfield.  His  term  of  enlistment 
was  for  three  years,  and  he  saw  much  active  serv- 
ice. His  first  engagement  was  at  Franklin,  Tenn., 
after  which  he  took  part  in  the  battles  of  Resaca, 
Tunnel  Hill  and  Buzzard's  Roost.  He  was 
wounded  at  Ch'ckamauga  by  a  minie-ball,  which 
entered  his  left  arm.  He  was  taken  to  the  hos- 
pital in  Nashville,  where  he  remained  three  month?, 
and  was  mustered  out  as  Orderly-Sergeant,  receiv- 
ing his  discharge  July  7,  1865.  He  at  once  re- 
turned to  his  farm  in  this  county,  and  has  here 
carried  on  operations  ever  since.  He  is  always 
foremost  in  all  public  enterprises,  and  in  times  of 
peace  and  war  has  been  a  true  citizen  and  patriot. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Repub- 
lic. 


R.  BEAMAN,  who  owns  a  good  farm  on 
section  16,  Greenwood  Township,  has 
given  his  main  attention  to  agricultural 
pursuits  since  boyhood,  and  is  one  of  the  success- 
ful farmers  of  the  county.  He  was  born  in  Owen 
County,  Ind.,  November  5,  1833,  and  is  a  son  of 
James  Beaman.  His  grandfather,  Samuel  Bcaman, 
was  born  in  North  Carolina,  as  was  also  his  son. 
He  went  as  a  pioneer  to  Indiana,  which  was  then 
a  wilderness,  and  made  a  farm  in  the  heavy  timber- 
land.  There  he  passed  his  remaining  years  and 
died  on  the  old  farm. 

James  Beaman,  fattier  of  our  subject,  located  in 
Indiana  with  his  parents  in  boyhood  and  managed 
to  obtain  a  good  education.  He  afterwards  en- 
gaged in  teaching,  and  was  noted  as  a  fine  penman. 
He  was  one  of  three  boys  who  constituted  the 


family.  In  later  years  he  became  a  minister  of 
the  Missionary  Baptist  Church,  and  for  a  quarter 
of  a  century  was  an  itinerant  preacher  and  laborer 
in  the  Master's  vineyard.  He  is  still  living,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-two  years,  on  the  old  Indiana  farm 
where  our  subject  was  reared.  He  married  Lj-dia 
Helm,  a  native  of  Kentucky,  who  removed  with 
her  parents  to  the  Hoosier  State  at  an  early  day. 
She  is  now  deceased.  Her  eldest  son.  Calvin,  lives 
in  the  southwestern  part  of  Missouri;  George  W., 
who  was  for  three  years  in  an  Illinois  regiment, 
resides  near  Ft.  Scott,  Kan.;  Samuel  is  a  farmer  of 
Greenwood  Township;  Jacob  B.  lives  on  the  same 
farm  as  his  father;  Elihu  resides  near  the  old  home 
in  Indiana;  James  F.,  who  is  a  minister  of  the  Bap- 
tist Church  in  Douglas  County,  111.,  was  educated 
at  Ladoga,  Ind.,  and  is  a  leading  minister  of  his 
denomination;  John  T.  is  a  farmer  of  Oklahoma; 
Rachel  Goff  lives  in  Christian  County;  Sarah  Goff 
is  deceased;  Elizabeth  Meek  is  a  resident  of  Indi- 
ana; and  Nancy  Jane,  now  Mrs.  Burton,  lives  in 
southern  Missouri.  The  father  of  these  children 
was  for  a  great  many  years  a  Justice  of  the  Peace 
and  School  Trustee.  He  was  formerly  a  Whig  and 
in  later  years  a  Democrat. 

W.  R.  Beaman  grew  to  manhood  among  pioneer 
surroundings.  The  farm  was  covered  with  rock 
and  stumps,  and  the  home  was  a  hewed-log  house 
with  doors  and  floors  of  lumber  cut  with  an  old 
whipsaw.  After  learning  what  he  could  in  the 
district  schools,  he  went,  when  nineteen  years  old, 
to  Franklin  (Ind.)  College,  to  pursue  his  studies 
further,  and  there  look  a  scientific  course.  After 
two  years  spent  in  college,  he  returned  home  and 
taught  school  for  a  time  and  also  clerked  in  a 
store.  In  1854,  he  went  to  Montgomery  County, 
III.,  and  taught  there  and  in  Bond  and  Fayette 
Counties.  Thence  he  went  to  Nodaway  County, 
Mo.,  where  he  was  engaged  in  teaching,  and  was 
also  thus  employed  for  some  time  in  Kansas.  The 
border-iulflan  war  caused  him  to  return  from  the 
West,  but  in  1860  he  made  two  trips  across  the 
plains  with  freight  by  ox-teams  to  Pike's  Peak. 
Though  this  business  was  paying,  he  was  obliged 
to  give  it  up  on  account  of  the  hostile  Indians. 

In  1862,  Mr.  Beaman  returned  to  Christian 
County,  and  taught  school  until  1865.  He  then 


232 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


began  farming  during  the  summers  though  lie  en- 
gaged in  teaching  during  the  winter  months,  and 
has  lived  since  that  time  on  his  present  farm,  sixty 
acres  of  which  he  bought  in  1865.  He  has  con- 
tinued to  improve  and  develop  the  place,  which  he 
has  brought  under  good  improvement.  He  owns 
three  tracts,  one  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-four 
acres  and  the  others  of  eighty  acres  each. 

In  1859,  Mr.  Beaman  married  in  Montgomery 
County  Mary  Jane  Landers,  who  was  born  and 
reared  in  that  county,  where  her  family  were  early 
residents.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Beaman  are  the  parents 
of  the  following  children:  James  L.,  who  married 
Miss  Hall  and  lives  on  a  farm  in  this  township; 
Laura  B.,  wife  of  Mr.  Livergood,  of  Stonington; 
Osta  Estelle,  wife  of  Charles  Oiler,  now  living  on 
the  home  farm;  Sina,  wife  of  William  Shafer,  of 
Greenwood  Township;  George  Herman,  who  lives 
on  the  home  farm;  Eva  and  William  Grant.  They 
were  all  reared  on  the  home  farm  and  educated  in 
the  public  schools.  Laura  was  a  successful  teacher 
of  this  county  until  her  marriage. 

In  1856,  Mr.  Beaman  deposited  his  first  Presi- 
dential ballot  for  Fremont,  and  has  since  been  a 
true-blue  Republican.  In  the  canvass  of  1859  he 
had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  a  speech  by  Abraham 
Lincoln.  He  has  held  several  local  offices  and  has 
been  Township  Clerk.  He  is  a  reliable  business 
man  and  good  citizen  of  the  county,  having  al- 
ways been  alive  to  its  best  interests. 


£|J  QUILLA  M.  COUNCIL,  a  farmer  residing 
(@/L!|[  on  section  15,  South  Fork  Township,  was 

j  if  born  on  the  same  farm  April  27,  1843. 
t^jl  His  parents  were  Aquilla  and  Sarah  E. 
(Melugin)  Council,  natives  of  North  Carolina  and 
Tennessee,  respectively.  Their  family  comprised 
nine  children:  Amanda,  Rebecca,  Joseph  and  James, 
who  are  all  deceased;  Sarah,  widow  of  L.  J.  Dun- 
can, and  now  living  in  Edinburgh;  Elizabeth, 
wife  of  J.  Young,  a  farmer  of  South  Fork  Town- 


ship; Aquilla;  William,  who  lives  in  Jasper  County, 
Mo.;  and  Amelia,  wife  of  James  Galloway,  a  far- 
mer and  stock-raiser  of  Taylorville  Township. 

The  father  of  our  subject  followed  the  occupa- 
tion of  farming  during  his  lifetime,  and  removed 
from  Tennessee  to  Illinois  in  1829,  making  the 
trip  by  team.  He  located  in  Sangamon  County, 
about  sixteen  miles  from  Springfield,  where  for 
about  three  years  he  was  engaged  in  farming 
rented  land.  He  then  came  to  this  county  and 
purchased  a  small  tract  of  land  from  the  Govern- 
ment in  what  is  now  South  Fork  Township.  He 
erected  a  log  house  and  engaged  in  cultivating 
this  farm  until  his  death.  He  took  quite  an  ac- 
tive interest  in  politics,  being  a  supporter  of  the 
Democracy,  and  held  a  number  of  local  positions 
of  more  or  less  responsibility  during  the  early 
years  of  the  county's  history.  For  a  number  of 
years  he  was  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  for  years 
was  Township  Treasurer.  He  departed  this  life 
July  13,  1857,  and  lies  buried  in  Finley  Cemetery, 
South  Fork  Township.  His  wife  is  still  living, 
though  well  along  in  years,  being  now  eighty- 
three. 

Aquilla  M.  Council,  whose  name  heads  this 
sketch,  was  born  and  reared  on  the  piece  of  land 
where  his  father  first  located,  and  which  he  has 
inherited.  His  first  schooling  was  in  the  early 
subscription  schools,  after  which  he  attended  those 
of  the  district.  After  his  father's  death  he  re- 
mained on  the  home  farm  with  his  mother,  and  soon 
after  took  entire  charge  of  the  place.  His  home- 
stead now  comprises  three  hundred  and  fifteen  acres 
on  section  15,  all  well  improved  and  valuable  land, 
which  is  well  adapted  to  general  farming  and 
stock-raising. 

On  Christmas  Day  of  1868,  Mr.  Council  mar- 
ried Miss  Martha  Williams,  by  whom  he  has  had 
three  children.  Phoebe  is  the  wife  of  Charles  Bauf- 
man,a  boot  and  shoe  merchant  of  Edinburgh; 
Alice  is  deceased;  and  William  T.  is  still  at  home. 

Mr.  Council  bears  an  honored  record  as  one  of 
the  devoted  defenders  of  the  Union,  having  en- 
listed as  a  private  in  Company  D,  One  Hundred 
and  Thirtieth  Illinois  Infantry,  on  the  14th  of 
August,  1862,  and  was  mustered  in  at  what  was 
then  Blueville,  but  is  now  Edinburgh.  The  term 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


233 


of  his  enlistment  was  for  three  years,  and  with  his 
regiment  he  was  at  once  sent  to  Mississippi,  where 
he  took  part  in  the  engagement  at  Ft.  Gibson. 
He  was  in  the  battles  of  Champion  Hills,  Black 
River,  and  look  part  in  the  sieges  of  Vicks- 
burg  and  Jackson,  Miss.  In  Mansfield,  La.,  he 
was  taken  prisoner,  and  was  held  a  prisoner  for 
thirteen  and  a-half  months  in  Camp  Ford,  near 
Tyler,  Tex.,  being  only  released  at  the  close  of  the 
war.  He  received  an  honorable  discharge  July  6, 
1865,  after  having  spent  many  a  weary  month  on 
marches  and  many  days  in  hotly-fought  battles 
for  his  country's  sake. 

On  his  return  home  Mr.  Council  resumed  his 
fanning  duties,  and  has  since  given  his  time  to 
the  cultivation  of  his  farm.  He  has  been  elected 
to  fill  various  local  offices  of  honor  and  trust,  and 
has  proved  himself  thoroughly  capable  and  true 
to  his  duties.  He  has  held  the  offices  of  Super- 
visor and  Assessor,  and  has  been  one  of  the  Com- 
missioners of  Highways.  Fraternally,  he  is  a 
member  of  the  Masonic  order,  and  belongs  to  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 


ICHAEL  OATS  is  numbered  among  the 
best  farmers  and  citizens  of  Johnson 
Township,  his  well-equipped  farm  being 
situated  on  section  9.  He  was  born  in 
Hampshire  County,  W.  Va.,  December  21,  1825. 
His  father,  George  Oats,  was  born  and  reared  in 
Maryland.  The  date  of  his  birth  was  1785,  and 
when  he  had  arrived  at  a  suitable  age  he  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Catherine  Slonaker, 
who  was  born  in  West  Virginia  in  1793.  The 
death  of  the  father  occurred  in  1841,  and  his 
mother  died  some  seven  years  later.  They  were 
the  parents  of  nine  children,  in  order  of  birth  as 
follows:  George,  Polly,  Christopher,  Jonathan, 
Mary  Jane,  Silas,  Sylvia,  Michael  and  Margaret. 
Only  two  of  the  family  are  now  living. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  employed  in  the 
usual  manner  of  farmer  boys  until  he  had  reached 


his  sixteenth  year.  He  then  started  out  to  earn 
his  own  livelihood,  and  for  one  year  worked  upon 
a  farm  for  $6  per  month.  For  the  two  years  suc- 
ceeding he  received  $9  per  month.  As  this  occu- 
pation did  not  appear  to  be  very  remunerative,  he 
resolved  to  learn  a  trade,  and  chose  that  of  a  car- 
penter. For  about  three  years  afterwards  he 
worked  at  that  occupation  in  Virginia.  At  this 
time  he  became  convinced  that  he  could  better  his 
fortune  in  the  West,  and  in  1849  went  as  far 
Westward  as  Logan  County,  Ohio,  where  for  three 
years  he  worked  at  his  trade. 

In  the  year  1852,  Mr.  Oats  arrived  in  Christian 
Countjr,  having  emigrated  here  in  a  covered 
wagon.  He  at  once  settled  in  Johnson  Township, 
where  he  rented  land  and  where  he  has  been 
located  ever  since,  engaged  in  farming  and  stock- 
raising.  His  farm,  which  comprises  some  two 
hundred  acres,  is  highly  cultivated  and  well  im- 
proved. 

In  November,  1864,  Mr.  Oats  wedded  Miss 
Harriet  Shivers.  Her  father  was  born  in  Mary- 
land, June  20,  1803,  while  her  mother,  who  was 
also  a  native  of  the  same  State,  was  born  in  1813. 
They  were  the  parents  of  thirteen  children,  as 
follows:  Thomas,  a  resident  of  Shelby  County, 1 11.; 
Jacob,  who  lives  in  Nebraska;  Robert,  whose  home 
is  in  Ohio;  Kate,  wife  of  John  W.  Johnston,  of 
Missouri;  Sampson,  who  makes  his  home  in  Johnson 
Township;  Washington  C.,  who  resides  in  El  Dor- 
ado Springs,  Mo.;  Harriet,  the  wife  of  our  subject; 
John  W.,  now  deceased;  Matilda,  deceased,  who 
was  the  wife  of  J.  B.  Eaton;  Delilah,  wife  of 
Dr.  Lilie,  of  Raymond,  Montgomery  County,  111.; 
Sallie,  who  is  now  Mrs.  Eads,  of  Decatur;  and 
Rebecca,  the  wife  of  William  Black,  of  Edinburgh, 
Christian  County.  The  parents  came  to  this 
county  in  1863,  and  here  made  their  home  until 
claimed  by  death.  They  lie  buried  in  the  Ander- 
son Cemetery. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Oats  has  been  born  a  family 
of  nine  children.  Catherine,  John  Wesley  and 
Nancy  May  are  deceased  and  are  buried  in  An- 
derson Cemetery;  Dora  and  Charles  live  with  their 
parents;  Arthur  is  deceased;  George,  Cleveland 
and  Bertie  Leland  complete  the  family.  For 
many  years  our  subject  has  been  a  member  of  the 


234 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  He  has  served  as  a 
School  Director  and  School  Trustee  and  has  also 
filled  the  position  of  Road  Commissioner.  By 
his  manly  and  straightforward  course  in  life  he 
has  won  the  friendship  and  confidence  of  his 
fellow-citizens,  and  is  considered  a  worthy  man  in 
every  sense  of  the  word. 


OS.  NASH,  a  grain  dealer  of  Sharpsburg,  was 
born  in  Franklin  County,  Mass.,  near  Green- 
field, April  3,  1843.  His  paternal  grand- 
father, Robert  Nash,  was  also  born  in  the  Bay  State. 
He  was  a  clothier  by  trade  and  a  dresser  of  cloth 
in  Greenfield.  The  ancestry  is  traced  back  through 
Tubal,  Daniel  (who  was  a  farmer  and  blacksmith), 
Daniel,  Sr.,  and  Lott  Timothy  Nash,  all  of  whom 
were  natives  of  Massachusetts.  The  father  of  the 
last-named,  Thomas  Nash,  was  a  native  of  Eng- 
land, and  in  1620  braved  the  dangers  of  an  ocean 
voyage  in  order  to  make  a  home  in  the  New  World. 
He  became  a  resident  of  the  Massachusetts  Colony. 
Robert  S.  Nash,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was 
born  in  Massachusetts  in  1814,  and  was  a  farmer 
by  occupation.  Emigrating  Westward,  he  located 
in  Wisconsin,  and  thence  came  to  Christian  County 
in  1859,  taking  up  his  residence  in  Buckhart 
Township.  He  now  resides  with  our  subject.  He 
married  Joanna  Packard,  wlio  was  born  in  Enfield, 
Mass.,  and  was  of  English  descent.  Three  sons 
and  two  daughters  were  born  of  the  union  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Nash,  the  eldest  of  whom  is  O.  S.;  Rob- 
ert is  now  living  in  Taylorville  Township;  Edwin 
C.  makes  his  home  in  Buckhart  Township;  Mary 
died  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight  years;  and  one 
child  died  in  infancy. 

Our  subject  spent  the  first  thirteen  years  of  his 
life  in  the  old  Bay  State,  and  then  accompanied  his 
parents  on  their  removal  to  Wisconsin.  He  was  a 
boy  of  sixteen  when  he  came  to  Christian  County, 
where  he  has  since  resided.  He  was  reared  to  the 
occupation  of  farming,  and  has  followed  that  pur- 
suit throughout  much  of  his  life.  In  November, 


1868,  he  was  joined  in  marriage  with  Rachel  Shep- 
ardson,  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  a  daughter 
of  Orash  Shepardson.  She  was  born  in  March, 
1841,  and  died  in  1877.  Two  children  were  born 
of  their 'union,  a  son  and  daughter:  Edwin  H.,  who 
is  now  at  home,  and  May  L.,  who  died  at  the  age 
of  eleven  months. 

Mr.  Nash  is  a  Royal  Arch  Mason,  belonging  to 
the  Blue  Lodge  of  Edinburgh  and  the  Chapter  of 
Taylorville.  In  politics  he  is  a  supporter  of  Re- 
publican principles.  In  addition  to  farming  he 
does  business  as  a  dealer  in  live  stock  and  grain  at 
Sharpsburg.  He  purchased  the  elevator  at  this 
place  and  buys  and  handles  large  quantities  of 
grain,  doing  a  good  business,  which  has  constantly 
increased  from  the  beginning.  Mr.  Nash  is  well 
known  in  Buckhart  Township  and  is  also  fa- 
vorably known  in  Taylorville  Township,  where  he 
has  his  home.  He  has  long  made  his  home  in  this 
county,  being  numbered  among  its  earliest  set- 
tlers, for  his  residence  here  covers  a  period  of  more 
than  a  third  of  a  century.  He  lias  therefore  wit- 
nessed much  of  its  growth  and  upbuilding  and  has 
seen  the  rapid  progress  and  development  which  it 
has  made.  He  is  a  genial,  pleasant  gentleman  and 
very  prominent  in  business  and  social  circles. 


IAL  DAVIS,  of  Mt.  Auburn,  has  lived  in 
Christian  County  since  1832,  when  he  was 
a  small  lad,  and  his  life  history  therefore 
has  been  closely  interwoven  with  that  of 
the  community  in  which  he  has  dwelt  for  more 
than  sixty  years,  and  a  history  of  the  representa- 
tive men  of  Christian  County  would  be  sadly  in- 
complete if  his  was  not  placed  among  the  others. 

Mr.  Davis  is  a  native  son  of  Illinois,  born  in 
Sangamon  County  January  10,  1826.  His  father, 
John  Davis,  was  born  in  Tennessee,  in  that  State 
passed  his  youth,  and  was  married  to  Sarah  Mill- 
igian,  also  of  Tennessee.  In  1818,  Mr.  Davis 
came  to  Illinois,  and  settled  near  the  present 
thriving  city  of  Springfield.  For  a  few  years  he 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


235 


lived  upon  a  tract  of  land  east  of  Clear  Creek. 
He- after  wards  located  south  of  Mechanicsburg,and 
while  there  he  spent  the  memorable  winter  of 
incredibly  deep  snow,  well  remembered  by  the 
hardy  pioneers  and  first  settlers  of  Illinois.  In 
1832,  he  came  to  what  is  now  Christian  County, 
and  opened  up  a  farm  in  ML  Auburn  Township. 
Here  he  passed  his  declining  years,  dying  in  1847. 
His  wife's  death  occurred  some  years  previously. 

During  the  boyhood  days  of  Dial  Davis,  educa- 
tion was  obtained  under  rather  trying  circum- 
stances, as  the  nearest  schoolhouse  was  situated 
four  miles  from  his  homo.  In  June,  1846,  he  en- 
listed for  the  Mexican  War,  joining  Company  C, 
Fourth  Illinois  Infantry,  under  Capt.  Pugh  and 
Col.  E.  D.  Baker.  The  company  to  which  Mr.  Da- 
vis belonged  was  raised  in  Decatur.  With  his 
regiment  he  went  to  Mexico,  and  passed  the  twelve- 
months term  of  his  enlistment  in  active  service, 
participating  in  the  battles  of  Cerro  Gortlo  and 
Vcra  Cruz  under  the  noted  commander,  Gen.  Scott. 
He  was  honorably  discharged  in  June,  1847,  re- 
ceiving a  land  warrant  for  his  services.  This  he 
traded  for  a  piece  of  land  in  ML  Auburn  Town- 
ship. After  improving  this  property,  he  sold  it,  in 
1852,  and  bought  other  land,  on  which  he  located 
and  opened  up  a  large  farm.  At  this  time  he  is 
the  owner  of  thirteen  hundred  acres  of  choice 
farming  land  and  business  property  in  ML  Auburn. 
He  has  a  substantial  and  commodious  residence  and 
has  made  valuable  improvements  on  his  farm. 

In  his  political  affiliations,  Mr.  Davis  is  a  Demo- 
crat and  cast  his  first  Presidential  ballot  for  Lewis 
Cass.  In  local  politics  he  has  also  been  greatly 
interested,  and  after  returning  from  his  service  in 
the  Mexican  War,  he  was  elected  to  the  position  of 
Constable,  and  served  in  that  capacity  very  cred- 
itably for  eleven  years.  He  has  also  served  as 
Supervisor  and  Collector  of  the  township,  and  was 
one  of  the  Commissioners  who  laid  out  ML  Auburn 
Township.  Our  public-school  system  has  always 
been  strongly  supported  by  him,  as,  in  short,  have 
all  public  enterprises. 

On  the  4th  of  February,  1852,  Mr.  Davis  was 
united  in  marriage  in  Mechanicsburg,  Sangamon 
County,  with  Miss  Edmonia  E.  Hesser,  who  died 
July  4,  1864.  Three  children  of  this  union  are 


still  living.  Charles  E.  is  married  and  lives  in 
ML  Auburn;  Sallie  D.  is  the  wife  of  E.  R.  Mooney, 
of  the  same  place;  and  Carrie  E.  is  the  wife  of 
William  L.  Rasor.  The  three  children  now  de- 
ceased are  Frank  P.,  Henry  N.  and  Dial  M.,  who 
died  at  the  ages  of  twenty-five, twenty  and  fifteen 
years,  respectively. 

Our  subject  was  again  married,  in  1867,  when 
Miss  Hulda  J.  Stobaugh  became  his  wife.  She  is 
a  native  of  Indiana,  and  a  daughter  of  James  Sto- 
baugh, formerly  of  Indiana.  One  daughter,  Nel- 
lie M..  has  blessed  this  union.  She  is  the  wife  of 
George  W.  Morgret,  of  ML  Auburn  Township. 
Our  subject  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church  of  ML  Auburn,  and  with  their  family 
are  highly  esteemed  in  social  circles. 


AVID  BURCHFIELD,  a  retired  farmer 
now  residing  in  Taylorville,  and  one  of 
the  honored  veterans  of  the  late  war,  has 
during  his  residence  in  Christian  County 
been  recognized  as  one  of  its  best  citizens,  for  he 
has  ever  faithfully  discharged  his  duties  of  citi- 
zenship and  borne  his  part  in  all  that  pertains  to 
the  welfare  and  upbuilding  of  the  community.  A 
native  of  the  Buckeye  State,  he  was  born  near  Car- 
rollton,  in  Carroll  County,  on  the  1st  of  March, 
1833.  His  father,  Joseph  Burchfield,  was  a  na- 
tive of  Pennsylvania,  and  in  his  youth  went  to 
Ohio,  where  he  met  and  married  Phoebe  Tope, 
a  native  of  that  State,  born  on  the  16th  of  April, 
1795.  Coming  to  this  State,  they  located  in 
Greenwood  Township,  'where  they  spent  the  re- 
mainder of  their  lives.  The  father,  who  was  born 
February  2,  1802,  died  on  the  1st  of  March,  1880, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-seven,  and  his  wife,  who  was 
seven  years  his  senior,  and  who  survived  him 
seven  years,  was  called  to  her  final  rest  February 
25,  1887,  at  the  age  of  ninety-two.  They  had  six 
children,  three  of  whom  are  now  living:  Thomas, 
Joseph  and  David. 


236 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  to  man- 
hood in  the  usual  manner  of  farmer  lads,  and  re- 
mained at  home  until  twenty-six  years  of  age. 
For  three  years  he  followed  the  carpenter's  trade, 
and  then  resumed  the  occupation  to  which  he  was 
reared.  As  a  companion  and  helpmate  on  life's 
journey,  he  chose  Miss  Mary  Price,  their  marriage 
being  celebrated  March  22,  1860.  Her  father, 
Benjamin  Price,  was  born  in  Jefferson  County, 
Ohio,  April  1,  1808,  and  was  a  son  of  Thomas  and 
Sarah  Price.  On  the  16th  of  January,  1830,  he 
married  Elizabeth  Seran,  who  was  born  October 
11,  1806.  Together  they  traveled  life's  journey 
for  fifty-four  years,  sharing  with  each  other  its 
joys  and  sorrows,  its  adversity  and  prosperity;  but 
at  length  the  hand  of  Death  separated  them,  and 
the  mother  passed  away  in  Leesville,  Ohio,  Novem- 
ber 4,  1884.  Mr.  Price  survived  her  a  few  years, 
dying  in  Leesville,  April  12.  1888.  They  held 
membership  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  were  people  whose  lives  of  uprightness  won 
them  the  respect  of  all  with  whom  they  were 
brought  in  contact. 

At  the  time  of  his  marriage,  Mr.  Burchfield 
possessed  no  cash  capital,  and  had  only  a  small 
farming  outfit,  but  he  rented  land,  upon  which  he 
made  his  home  until  after  his  return  from  the 
army,  when  he  bought  a  farm  of  forty  acres. 
Feeling  that  his  country  needed  his  services,  in 
the  fall  of  1864  he  joined  Company  H,  One  Hun- 
dred and  Seventy-eighth  Ohio  Infantry,  which  was 
attached  to  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland.  They 
were,  however,  detailed  to  supply  cattle  for  Sher- 
man's army,  and  for  that  purpose  were  stationed 
at  Tullahoma,  Ga.  The  regiment  afterward  went 
to  Raleigh  and  joined  Sherman's  army  at  Wheat- 
swamp  Church,  in  North  Carolina.  Afterward 
the  regiment  was  sent  to  Charlotte,  N.  C.,  as  guards, 
and  its  members  were  discharged  June  29,  1865, 
and  mustered  out  at  Columbus,  Ohio.  At  one 
time,  Mr.  Burchfield  was  with  a  squad  of  twenty- 
five  men,  all  of  whom  were  captured  except  him- 
self, but  lie  stood  his  ground,  and  after  the  rebel 
guns  were  discharged,  he  and  his  comrades  turned 
on  their  captors  and  escaped.  He  took  part  in 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  skirmishes  while  en- 
gaged in  guarding  railroads.  When  the  war  was 


over  and  the  country  no  longer  needed  his  serv- 
ices, Mr.  Burchfield  returned  home  and  carried  on 
farming  in  Ohio  until  1867,  when  he  left  his  na- 
tive State  for  Illinois.  Coming  to  Christian 
County,  he  located  in  Greenwood  Township,  where 
he  purchased  eighty  acres  of  land,  making  that 
farm  his  home  for  eight  years.  In  1875,  he  rented 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Johnson 
Township,  and  removed  to  that  place  for  the 
educational  facilities  of  that  neighborhood  were 
superior  to  those  near  his  old  home  and  he  wished 
to  afford  his  children  good  advantages.  For 
eleven  years  he  operated  a  rented  farm,  and  then, 
in  1886,  purchased  a  small  tract  of  land  in  John- 
son Township,  to  the  cultivation  and  improve- 
ment of  which  he  devoted  his  energies  until  the 
spring  of  1891,  when  he  came  to  Taylorville.  He 
has  now  invested  in  city  property,  which  3*ieldsto 
him  a  good  income. 

By  the  marriage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burchfield,  five 
children  were  born,  two  sons  and  three  daughters: 
James  William,  Elizabeth,  M.  Belle,  Benjamin 
Price  and  Violet  F.  With  the  exception  of  the 
eldest  child,  all  are  still  under  the  parental  roof. 
The  family  have  a  pleasant  home  in  Taylorville, 
and  their  hospitable  doors  are  ever  open  for  the 
reception  of  their  many  friends.  In  his  farming 
operations,  Mr.  Burchfield  was  successful,  and  un- 
der his  care  and  cultivation  the  soil  was  made  to 
yield  to  him  a  ready  return,  so  that  he  is  now 
comfortabty  situated  in  life,  having  a  competence 
that  enables  him  to  live  retired. 


IIL.^  ENRY  CLAY  BOHN  is  one  of  the  honored 
iTjlj  veterans  of    the    late    war,  having    served 
u^jfl    nobly    in    the    defense    of   the    Stars   and 
((|y!     Stripes.     He  is  now  engaged  in  the  cloth- 
ing business  in  Morrisonville.  and   is  one  of  the 
prominent  business  men  of  the   place.     His   birth 
occurred    in    Franklin    County,   Pa.,  October    15, 
1843,  and  his  boyhood  was  spent  in  his  native  State 
until  his  thirteenth  year,  when  he  removed  with 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


237 


his  father  to  Hagerstown,  Md.,  where  he  obtained 
his  education.  He  there  learned  the  cigar-maker's 
trade  and  followed  that  business  until  the  open  ing 
of  the  Civil  War. 

Our  subject  is  a  son  of  Adam  and  Hannah 
(Wingard)  Bohn,  who  were  both  natives  of  Penn- 
sylvania. The  former  was  a  farmer  by  occupation 
in  the  Keystone  State,  where  his  death  occurred 
in  1878,  at  the  age  of  eighty-six  years.  His  fa- 
ther, Adam  Bohn,  was  a  native  of  Germany,  who 
emigrated  to  Pennsylvania,  where  he  engaged  in 
farming  for  a  number  of  years,  reared  his  family 
of  nine  children  and  lived  to  be  over  seventy 
years  of  age.  Our  subject's  mother  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  Jacob  Wingard,  a  native  of  the  Keystone 
State,  who  followed  agricultural  pursuits  and  was 
also  a  well-known  preacher  of  the  United  Brethren 
denomination.  He  died  after  having  attained  the 
ripe  old  age  of  eighty-one  years.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Bohn  were  mem bers  of  the  United  Brethren  Church. 
The  latter  was  called  from  this  life  in  1846. 

In  a  family  of  eleven  children,  comprising  five 
sons  and  six  daughters,  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
is  the  youngest.  Only  three  of  the  family  are 
now  living.  Maria  is  the  wife  of  August  Shirey, 
of  New  Castle,  Ind.;  and  Elizabeth  is  the  wife  of 
George  Alsbaugh,  also  of  New  Castle.  In  August, 
1861,  our  subject  became  a  member  of  Company 
E,  First  Regiment  of  Maryland  Infantry,  and  was 
in  active  service  for  three  years  and  three  months. 
He  received  a  slight  flesh  wound  at  the  battle  of 
Gettysburg,  but  otherwise  was  fortunate  in  escap- 
ing injury.  He  also  participated  in  the  battles  of 
Winchester,  Falling  Waters.  Antietam,  Harper's 
Ferry,  and  a  number  of  minor  engagements.  Af- 
ter receiving  an  honorable  discharge,  he  went  to 
Greencastle,  Pa.,  where  he  engaged  in  the  dry- 
goods  business  for  three  years. 

In  1868  Mr.  Bohn  came  to  Marion  County,  111., 
where  he  embarked  in  the  agricultural  business 
and  operated  a  farm  for  three  years.  He  after- 
ward obtained  employment  in  a  dry-goods  store 
as  a  clerk,  in  Sandoval,  111.,  where  he  was  sta- 
tioned for  a  number  of  years.  In  1882  he  came 
to  Morrison ville  and  opened  a  clothing  store, 
which  business  he  has  carried  on  up  to  the  present 
time.  He  is  the  owner  of  a  farm  comprising  one 


hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Clinton  County, 
111.,  and  also  owns  the  building  in  which  his  store 
is  located,  besides  other  desirable  town  property, 
in  addition  to  his  residence.  He  is  a  business 
man  of  good  ability,  and  has  secured  the  patron- 
age of  the  citizens  of  this  place  and  the  surround- 
ing country. 

On  the  3d  of  November,  1865,  Mr.  Bohn  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Mary  Frances  Savin, 
daughter  of  John  and  Margaret  (Hiatt)  Savin, 
of  Harper's  Ferry,  W.  Va.  Two  children  have 
been  born  of  this  union,  Ida  and  one  who  died  in 
infancy.  Mrs.  Bohn  is  a  valued  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  in  which  she  is  an  active 
worker. 

In  politics  our  subject  affiliates  with  the  Demo- 
cratic party.  He  was  President  of  the  Village 
Board  of  Trustees  for  two  terms,  and  was  a  mem- 
ber of  that  body  for  some  five  years.  For  one 
term  he  served  acceptably  as  Supervisor  of  Ricks 
Township.  In  his  social  relations  he  is  identified 
with  Morrisonville  Lodge  No.  681,  A.  F.  &  A.  M., 
with  Taylorville  Chapter  and  the  Litchfield  Coin- 
mandery.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Morrison- 
ville lodge  of  Odd  Fellows,  and  belongs  to  the 
Modern  Woodmen  of  America.  He  is  a  Grand 
Army  man,  being  a  member  of  Dan  Nutt  Post. 


JAMES  R.  VANDERBELT  has  been  engaged 
in  active  merchandising  in  Mt.  Auburn  for 
over  twenty  years,  and  is  numbered  among 
the  old  residents  of  this  locality.     He  is  a 
native  of  Indiana,  born  near  Shelbyville,  Shelby 
County,  February  15,  1837,  and  is  a  son  of  David 
and  Mary  Ann  (Nichols)  Vanderbelt.     The  former 
was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  coining  from  a  fam- 
ily of  Dutch  ancestors,  who  were  among  the  early 
settlers  of  the  Keystone  State. 

David  Vanderbelt,  on  arriving  at  manhood,  left 
the  scenes  of  his  youth  and  went  to  Ohio,  in  which 
State  he  met  the  lady  who  became  his  wife.  At 
an  early  day  he  removed  further  West,  settling  in 


238 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Shelby  County,  Ind.,  where  he  followed  his  trade, 
that  of  a  tanner.  He  also  opened  up  a  farm  there, 
but  after  a  few  years  went  to  Sullivan  Count}^ 
Ind.,  where  he  made  his  home  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  August,  1863. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  grew  to  manhood  in 
Shelby  and  Sullivan  Counties.  Since  arriving  at 
man's  estate  he  has  mainly  acquired  his  education, 
as  in  his  early  days  he  had  but  few  school  privi- 
leges. In  1856  he  came  again  to  Illinois,  drifted 
Westward  to  Missouri  and  Kansas,  and  finally  was 
married  in  St.  Clair  County,  Mo.,  to  Miss  Frances 
Shank,  their  marriage  being  celebrated  February 
13,  1859.  The  young  couple  returned  to  Illinois, 
and  in  1860  located  in  Rochester,  Sangamon 
County,  where  they  resided  about  one  year. 

In  1861,  Mr.  Vanderbelt  started  in  the  harness 
business  in  Taylorvillc,  and  had  made  a  fair  start 
in  this  direction  when  he  felt  obliged  by  his  pa- 
triotic impulses  to  drop  all  other  considerations 
and  go  to  the  defense  of  the  Union.  He  became 
a  member  of  Company  D,  Forty-third  Indiana 
Infantry,  joining  the  regiment  in  Indianapolis, 
and  going  with  it  to  the  front.  He  was  in  active 
service  until  the  close  of  the  war,  receiving  his 
discharge  papers  June  6,  1865. 

On  his  return  from  the  South,  our  subject  went 
to  Cumberland  County,  111.,  and  for  two  an  da-half 
years  conducted  a  harness  business  at  Neoga.  In 
October,  1868,  we  find  him  in  Christian  County, 
located  at  Taylorville,  and  carrying  on  the  busi- 
ness which  he  has  followed  without  interruption 
during  the  most  of  his  commercial  career.  In 
1870  he  finally  settled  in  Mt.  Auburn  and  em- 
barked in  general  merchandising.  He  has  been 
very  successful  as  a  business  man,  and  the  large 
patronage  which  he  now  has  is  owing  entirely  to 
his  upright  method  of  conducting  his  affairs. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Vanderbelt  have  two  children  liv- 
ing. Minnie  Mabel  is  the  wife  of  Frederick  Shue, 
an  agriculturist  of  this  count}^;  and  Ada  R.  is  the 
wife  of  James  Lindsley,  a  farmer  of  Mt.  Auburn 
Township.  Two  children  died  in  e&rly  childhood, 
David  Albert  and  Mary  Idabelle.  The  parents 
are  members  of  the  Baptist  Church. 

During  the  administiation  of  President  Arthur, 
Mr.  Vanderbelt  was  appointed  Postmaster  of  Mt. 


Auburn,  in  which  capacity  he  served  for  about 
seven  years  to  the  thorough  satisfaction  of  his 
constituents.  Since  the  war  he  has  been  a  sup- 
porter of  the  Republican  party,  but  cast  his  first 
vote  in  1860  for  Hon.  Stephen  A.  Douglas. 


EREMIAH  MALIN,  a  well-known  farmer 
of  section  8,  Greenwood  Township,  has 
>u  engaged  in  cultivating  the  farm  on 
which  he  makes  his  home  for  thirty  years, 
and  turned  much  of  the  soil  upon  the  place  him- 
self. He  has  brought  it  from  its  original  state 
to  what  it  now  is,  a  well-improved  and  fertile 
tract  of  land.  He  is  a  native  of  Ohio,  born  in 
Pickaway  County  June  4,  1836,  his  father,  Jared 
Malin,  being  a  native  of  Virginia,  though  his  an- 
cestors were  early  settlers  of  Pennsylvania. 

The  father  grew  to  manhood  in  Virginia  and 
went  to  Pickaway  County,  Ohio,  where  he  married 
Elizabeth  McDonald,  who  was  born  and  grew  to 
womanhood  in  the  Buckeye  State,  but  whose  par- 
ents were  from  Virginia.  Mr.  Malin  improved  a 
timbered  farm,  and  in  the  fall  of  1838  proceeded 
by  team  to  Illinois  with  his  wife  and  six  children. 
He  settled  in  Shelbyville,  where  he  rented  laud 
for  a  year  and  then  entered  a  tract  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. He  never  lived  upon  this  farm,  how- 
ever, but  came  to  Christian  County  in  1840  and 
took  up  a  claim,  on  which  he  settled  the  following 
year.  This  farm  was  just  east  of  Pana,  and  there 
he  passed  his  remaining  days,  dying  in  1871.  His 
good  wife  also  passed  away  on  the  same  farm,  and 
both  were  buried  near  Pana.  In  their  pioneer  days 
they  suffered  many  hardships,  but  accomplished  a 
great  deal,  as,  though  coming  here  poor,  they  left 
a  good  property  and  plenty  to  their  children.  Mr. 
Malin  was  a  Democrat  all  his  life,  was  a  just  man, 
and  one  who  attended  strictly  to  his  own  affairs, 
He  was  an  active  and  faithful  member  of  the  Old- 
school  Baptist  Church. 

Our  subject  is  one    in    a  family    composed   of 


Til*  bt>i«.j 
of  the 
of 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


239 


the  following  children:  Lucinda;  Denton,  who 
lives  in  Rosemond;  William,  who  was  a  farmer 
and  died  near  Pana;  Thomas,  deceased;  Amy  Ann, 
now  Mrs.  Cox,  who  resides  near  Pana;  Elisha, 
whose  death  occurred  in  this  county;  Josiah,  a 
farmer,  who  also  makes  his  home  in  this  county; 
Jared,  a  resident  of  Kansas;  John,  who  lives  near 
Pana;  Ann  E.  and  Sarah  E.,  the  latter  of  whom  is 
deceased. 

The  boyhood  days  of  Jeremiah  Malin  were 
passed  in  this  neighborhood,  and  he  has  been  a 
witness  of  most  of  the  development  of  this  county. 
In  the  early  days  the  wolves  often  howled  around 
the  cabin  and  wild  game  was  abundant.  He  saw 
the  town  of  Pana  grow  from  the  start,  and  helped 
with  an  ox-team  in  grading  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad.  His  education  was  limited,  as  he  could 
attend  school  only  a  few  days  at  a  time  and  would 
then  be  obliged  to  work  for  a  number  of  days  to- 
gether on  the  farm.  What  education  he  obtained 
was  during  a  six-months  term  of  school  held  in  a  log 
house,  which  was  used  as  a  blacksmith  shop.  He 
remained  at  home  until  his  majority,  and  learned 
to  swing  the  scythe  and  cradle  and  hew  out  rails. 
When  he  embarked  in  business  for  himself  he  first 
worked  for  a  year  on  a  farm,  and  then  rented  land 
for  one  season. 

In  the  spring  of  1860  our  subject  was  married 
in  this  neighborhood  to  Mrs.  Amanda  C.  Pierce,  a 
native  of  Sangamon  County.  Her  father  was  born 
in  Tennessee,  and  was  an  early  settler  of  San- 
gamon and  Christian  Counties.  She  died  in  the 
spring  of  1870,  leaving  three  sons,  and  also  a 
daughter  by  a  former  marriage.  Asa  B.  resides  in 
Guthrie,  Okla.;  James  F.  is  a  farmer  of  Kansas; 
and  Jared  N.  is  engaged  in  farming  in  North 
Dakota.  The  daughter  is  Mrs.  Mollie  Wilkerson, 
of  Kansas. 

The  present  wife  of  our  subject,  who  was  form- 
erly Mrs.  Miller,  became  Mrs.  Malin  on  the  13th  of 
December,  1874.  Mr.  Miller  was  killed  while  in 
the  army.  The  maiden  name  of  Mrs.  Malin  was 
Bicmer,  and  her  birth  occurred  in  Tuscarawas 
County,  Ohio.  She  grew  to  womanhood  in  Van 
Wert  County,  the  same  State,  and  after  the  war 
came  with  a  sister  to  Illinois.  Our  subject  and  his 
wife  have  one  daughter,  Minnie  B.,  who  is  an  ex- 


ceptionally intelligent  young  lady  and  is  pursuing 
her  studies  in  the  public  schools,  where  on  nine  of 
her  studies  she  recently  made  an  average  of  nine- 
ty-five and  three-fourths. 

The  first  Presidential  ballot  cast  by  Mr.  Malin 
was  in  favor  of  Douglas  in  1860,  and  since  that 
time  he  has  been  a  leading  Democrat  in  this  region, 
having  been  a  delegate  and  committeeman  in  the 
conventions  of  his  part}'.  He  supports  churches  and 
is  foremost  in  all  public  advancement.  His  farm 
is  Bnely  improved  and  comprises  some  eighty  acres, 
which  are  under  good  cultivation.  In  this  county, 
where  he  has  spent  nearly  his  entire  life,  he  has 
won  the  respect  and  regard  of  all. 


JOHN  WEISER,  one  of  the  prominent  and 
representative  agriculturists  of  Christian 
County,  who  is  now  practically  living  a  re- 
.  tired  life  in  Sharpsburg,  Buckhart  Town- 
ship, was  born  in  Darmstadt,  Germany,  November 
30,  1828,  and  is  a  son  of  Philip  and  Mary  M. 
(KimbeiTmg)  Weiser,  who  were  also  natives  of  the 
same  locality.  The  father  was  a  farmer  by  oc- 
cupation, and  carried  on  that  business  in  his  na- 
tive land  until  1838,  when  he  crossed  the  briny 
deep  to  the  New  World,  locating  in  Pennsylvania, 
where  he  spent  two  years.  In  1841  he  came  to 
Illinois,  locating  in  Cass  County,  where  he  entered 
land  from  the  Government  and  began  the  devel- 
opment of  a  farm.  His  death  there  occurred  at 
the  age  of  sixty-two  years.  His  wife  survived 
him  for  a  number  of  years  and  reached  the  ad- 
vanced age  of  eighty-four. 

This  worthy  couple  had  a  family  of  nine  chil- 
dren, numbering  five  sons  and  four  daughters,  of 
whom  our  subject  is  fourth  in  order  of  birth.  His 
earliest  recollections  are  of  the  Fatherland,  but 
when  he  was  a  lad  of  ten  summers  his  parents  left 
the  Old  Country,  and  he  has  since  known  no  other 
place  of  abode  than  his  American  home.  Since 
his  thirteenth  year  he  has  lived  in  Illinois.  Upon 
his  father's  farm  in  Cass  County  he  was  reared  to 


210 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


manhood,  acquiring  his  education  in  the  public 
schools  of  the  neighborhood.  As  a  companion 
and  helpmate  on  life's  journey,  Mr.  Weiser  chose 
Miss  Anna  D.  Musch,  a  native  of  Germany.  Their 
union  was  celebrated  in  1852,  and  has  been  blessed 
by  four  children,  of  whom  only  two  are  yet  liv- 
ing: Louis  P.  and  Otto  N. 

Mr.  Weiser's  residence  in  Christian  County  dates 
from  1859.  On  his  arrival  he  located  upon  a  par- 
tially improved  farm  on  section  33,  Buckhart 
Township,  and  began  its  further  development  and 
cultivation.  He  labored  with  untiring  zeal,  and 
his  industrious  efforts  soon  transformed* it  into  a 
tract  of  rich  fertility.  It  now  comprises  three 
hundred  and  forty-five  acres,  of  which  iwenty- 
n've  acres  are  timber-land,  while  the  remainder  is 
divided  into  fields  of  convenient  size  for  raising 
the  cereals  adapted  to  this  climate.  Recently  Mr. 
Weiser  has  removed  to  Sharpsburg,  'where  he  is 
living  retired  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  rest  which 
should  follow  years  of  active  labor.  Through  his 
own  efforts  he  has  acquired  a  handsome  compe- 
tency, which  now  enables  him  to  lay  aside  business 
cares  and  surrounds  him  with  all  the  comforts 
that  go  to  make  life  worth  the  living.  In  politics 
he  is  a  supporter  of  Republican  principles,  but  has 
never  sought  or  desired  public  office,  preferring  to 
devote  his  time  and  attention  to  business  interests 
and  the  enjoyments  of  the  home  circle. 


JH.  MARTIN,  who  carries  on  farming  and 
stock-raising  on  section  34,  Buckhart  Town- 
ship, is  numbered  among  the  early  settlers 
of    the   community,    and    for    more    than 
twenty  years  he  has  resided  upon  the  farm  which 
he  now  makes   his   home.     He  was  born  in  Law- 
rence County,  Ind.,  November  3,  1838,  and  is  the 
sixth  in  order  of  birth  in  a   family  of    eight  chil- 
dren.    His  paternal  grandfather,  Abram  Martin, 
who  was  of  English  descent,  was  born  in  Kentucky, 
and  served  in    the  War  of   1812.     The    father  of 
our  subject,  Lewis   Martin,  was  a  native   of  the 


Hoosier  State.  He  married  Rachel  Garrison,  who 
died  when  J.  H.  was  quite  a  small  lad,  after  which 
he  again  married. 

Mr.  Martin  whose  name  heads  this  record  came 
with  his  father  and  step-mother  to  Illinois  when 
a  youth  of  ten  summers,  and  remained  with  them 
until  he  had  attained  his  majority.  In  1861,  a 
marriage  ceremony  was  performed  which  united 
his  destiny  with  that  of  Lucy  J.  Jones.  She  was 
born  in  Illinois,  and  is  of  Welsh  descent.  Her 
parents  were  natives  of  Tennessee.  They  began 
their  domestic  life  upon  a  rented  farm  in  Sanga- 
mon  Count}',  and  in  1862  came  to  Christian  Coun- 
ty, Mr.  Martin  renting  land  near  Edinburgh.  He 
afterward  purchased  a  farm,  which  he  subsequently 
sold,  and  in  1871  he  became  owner  of  his  present 
place  of  residence.  It  was  then  but  slightly  im- 
proved, but  a  great  transformation  has  taken 
place  in  its  appearance  in  the  years  which  have 
since  passed.  It  now  comprises  three  hundred 
and  twenty  acres,  all  under  a  high  state  of  culti- 
vation. It  is  supplied  with  three  houses,  good 
barns  and  all  the  other  necessary  buildings.  All 
the  equipments  of  a  model  farm  are  there  found, 
and  the  place  seems  complete  in  all  its  appoint- 
ments. 

Eleven  children  were  born  of  the  union  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Martin,  of  whom  nine  are  yet  living: 
Isaac;  James  M.;  Leona  Belle,  wife  of  Henry  Mil- 
ler, of  Oklahoma;  Lucretia,  wife  of  Frank  Brown, 
a  farmer  of  Buckhart  Township;  Charlie;  Emma, 
wife  of  Irvin  Donner,  of  Buckhart  Township;  Mar- 
tha, of  Chicago;  Pearl,  at  home;  and  Grover,  who 
completes  the  family. 

Mr.  Martin  started  out  in  life  for  himself 
empty-handed.  His  possessions  consisted  only  of 
a  team  of  horses  and  a  wagon,  and  he  had  gone  in 
debt  for  these  to  the  extent  of  $  150.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  five  years  spent  in  Edinburgh,  he  has 
always  followed  agricultural  pursuits.  He  also  en- 
gages in  stock-raising,  owning  an  imported  Eng- 
lish Shire  stallion  and  several  standard-bred  trot- 
ting horses,  including  "Mandett,"  a  Hambleton- 
ian.  He  also  has  a  fine  colt,  "May  wood."  Hisgood 
management,  careful  attention  to  the  details  of 
his  business,  and  his  perseverance  and  industry 
have  brought  him  a  high  degree  of  success,  which 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


241 


now  places  him  among  the  substantial  farmers 
of  the  community.  In  politics  he  votes  with  the 
Democratic  party  on  questions  of  National  im- 
portance. He  has  long  been  a  resident  of  Chris- 
tian County,  has  watched  with  interest  its  progress 
and  upbuilding,  and  has  aided  materally  iu  its  ad- 
vancement. 


eORNELIUS  B.  KELLER,  a  respected  agri- 
culturist and  farmer,  residing  on  section 
22,  Johnson  Township,  is  a  member  of  a 
pioneer  family  who  took  up  their  abode  in  Chris- 
tian County  in  1850.  He  was  born  in  York 
County,  Pa.,  on  the  19th  of  June,  1827,  and  was 
consequently  only  twenty-three  years  old  when 
he  came  to  the  West.  His  father,  John  Keller, 
was  long  numbered  among  the  best  residents  of 
this  community.  He  was  also  a  native  of  York 
County,  where  he  grew  to  manhood  and  was  un- 
ited in  marriage  with  Miss  Lydia  Baker,  of  the 
same  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Keller  departed  this 
life  in  Christian  County,  on  their  old  homestead, 
and  were  buried  side  by  side  in  the  Clark  Ceme- 
tery, of  Johnson  Township. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  one  of  eight  chil- 
dren, five  sons  and  three  daughters,  and  is  the 
eldest  of  the  family.  His  youth  was  spent  on  his 
father's  farm,  to  the  cultivation  of  which  he  gave 
his  energies  until  reaching  his  majority.  He  de- 
termined to  learn  a  trade,  and  accordingly  became 
master  of  the  art  of  manufacturing  paper.  Desir- 
ing to  see  something  of  the  world  and  particu- 
larly of  the  great  West,  he  went  in  1855  to  Kan- 
sas with  a  party  of  Government  surveyors.  The 
twelve  years  following  he  traveled  in  Arkansas, 
Nebraska  and  Kansas,  visiting  all  parts  of  those 
States. 

It  was  in  1867  that  Mr.  Keller  returned  to 
Christian  County  to  settle  down  for  life,  and  since 
that  time  he  has  made  his  permanent  home  in 
Johnson  Township.  His  entire  attention  has  been 


given  to  general  farming  and  stock-raising,  and  as 
the  reward  of  his  industry  he  now  finds  himself 
the  owner  of  a  valuable  tract  of  land,  comprising 
several  hundred  acres.  His  farm  is  well  adapted 
to  stock-raising,  being  well  sheltered  from  storms 
of  wind  and  rain  by  heavily  timbered  lands,  sit- 
uated along  a  branch  of  the  Sangamon  River, 
which  borders  his  farm.  He  makes  a  specialty  of 
stock-raising,  and  usually  from  twelve  to  fifteen 
head  of  horses,  fifty  to  one  hundred  head  of  hogs, 
and  upwards  of  fifty  head  of  cattle  can  be  seen 
feeding  in  his  beautiful  meadow  lands. 

Mr.  Keller  is  a  man  of  intelligence  and  keeps 
well  informed  on  the  leading  questions  of  the  day. 
He  is  congenial  and  friendly  in  his  social  relations, 
and  stands  high  in  the  respect  of  his  neighbors 
and  fellow-citizens.  He  has  chosen  to  remain 
single,  but  his  home  is  so  well  kept  and  pleasant 
that  one  would  hardly  imagine  it  was  not  presided 
over  by  a  lady.  His  course  in  life  has  been  ever 
strictly  upright  and  within  the  lines  of  justice 
and  truth.  He  is  the  architect  of  his  own  for- 
tunes, having  started  out  empty-handed  in  the 
battle  of  life.  In  politics,  he  is  a  Democrat. 


EV.  ALOYSIUS  TEPPE  has  been  located 
in  Morrisonville  since  the  fall  of  1877, 
succeeding  the  Rev.  Father  Klaus.  There 
!  are  about  sixty  families  in  his  parish,  and 
he  has  ministered  to  their  wants  as  an  adviser  and 
friend  for  about  fifteen  years. 

The  birth  of  Rev.  Mr.  Teppe  occurred  at  Volk- 
marsen,  Germany,  on  the  27th  of  November,  1854. 
He  is  son  of  Louis  and  Regina  (Belzer)  Teppe, 
both  natives  of  Germany,  and  is  one  of  four  chil- 
dren, and  the  eldest  of  the  family. 

Father  Teppe  was  a  lad  of  only  eleven  years 
when  he  entered  Fulda  Seminary,  where  he  in- 
dustriously pursued  his  studies  for  eight  year,-'. 
At  the  expiration  of  that  period  he  entered  thu 
University  at  Louvain,  Belgium,  and  there  com- 
menced his  study  for  the  priesthood.  At  the  end 


212 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


of  three  and  a-half  years  lie  graduated  from  that 
institution  and  was  ordained  a  priest,  this  being 
in  1877.  . 

Soon  after  his  ordination,  Father  Teppe  came  to 
America,  and,  as  we  have  said  before,  was  immedi- 
ately placed  in  charge  of  the  parish  at  Morrison- 
ville.  The  old  church  edifice,  which  has  been  built 
for  a  number  of  years,  will  soon  be  converted  into 
a  school  for  the  use  of  the  families  of  the  church. 
It  is  the  intention  of  Rev.  Mr.  Teppe  and  his  par- 
ishioners to  erect  a  handsome  church  building  in 
the  near  future  at  a  cost  of  about  $12,000,  and 
the  plans  for  it  are  now  well  under  way. 


/^|j)  APT  DAN  DE  CAMP,  one  of  the  most 
(l(^~  prominent  citizens  of  Edinburgh,  and  an 
^^/  early  settler  of  Christian  County,  was  born 
in  Giles  County,  Va.,  August  31,  1824.  His  fa- 
ther, David  De  Camp,  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey, 
from  where  he  removed  to  Virginia.  By  trade 
he  was  a  hatter.  The  grandfather,  Zachariah  De 
Camp,  was  born  in  New  Jersey,  and  his  father  was 
a  native  of  France  and  the  founder  of  the  family 
in  America.  The  mother  of  our  subject  bore  the 
maiden  name  of  Elizabeth  Ford.  She  was  born  in 
the  Old  Dominion,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Lewis 
Ford,  a  native  of  the  same  State.  The  parents  of 
our  subject  were  married  in  Virginia,  and  located 
in  Pearisburgh,  Giles  County,  where  Mr.  De  Camp 
worked  at  his  trade.  His  wife  died  in  that  place, 
after  which  he  came  to  Illinois,  spending  his  last 
days  in  Galena.  They  were  the  parents  of  eight 
children,  six  sons  and  two  daughters,  namely: 
Elizabeth,  Henry,  Lewis,  Daniel,  John  D.,  William, 
Sarah  A.  and  Napoleon. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  remained  in  the 
county  of  his  nativity  until  eighteen  years  of  age, 
and  when  a  youth  of  fifteen  started  out  in  life  for 
himself,  since  which  time  he  has  been  dependent 
upon  his  own  resources.  He  served  an  apprentice- 
ship to  the  hatter's  trade,  and  then  for  three  years 
and  a-half  drove  a  team  for  one  company,  driving 


fifty-three  miles  each  day  from  Salem  to  the  Nat- 
ural Bridge.  In  1842,  Capt.  De  Camp  emigrated 
Westward,  taking  up  his  residence  in  Springfield. 
He  drove  a  stage  from  Taylorville  to  Shelbyville 
for  about  a  year,  also  engaged  in  staging  from 
Taylorville  to  Springfield  and  from  St.  Louis  to 
Springfield.  Subsequently  he  established  himself 
in  the  livery  business  in  the  capital  city  and  con- 
tinued in  that  line  for  about  four  years,  when  he 
purchased  a  farm  in  Christian  County,  comprising 
two  hundred  acres  of  partially  improved  land. 
At  that  time  there  was  but  one  house  at  Buckhart 
Grove.  The  county  was  wild  and  undeveloped, 
and  he  lived  in  true  pioneer  style.  During  one 
winter  he  shot  forty-four  deer  with  forty-two 
shots  from  a  small  rifle.  Wild  game  was  very 
plentiful  and  kept  the  table  supplied  with  meat. 
The  Captain  at  once  began  the  development  of  a 
farm,  and  soon  transformed  the  unimproved  tract 
into  rich  and  fertile  fields. 

In  1862,  our  subject  entered  the  service  of  his 
country  as  a  member  of  Company  D,  One  Hun- 
dred and  Thirtieth  Illinois  Infantry,  and  for  two 
years  served  as  Captain,  He  was  sunstruck  at  Al- 
exandria, La., in  1864, and  being  thus  disabled  for 
duty  resigned  his  position.  He  participated  in 
thirteen  hard-fought  battles  and  the  siege  of  Vicks- 
burg,  was  always  found  at  his  post  and  proved 
himself  a  valiant  defender  of  the  Union. 

After  being  mustered  out,  Capt.  De  Camp  re- 
turned to  his  home,  purchased  more  land,  and  de- 
voted his  energies  assiduously  to  farming.  In 
1870,  lie  laid  off  the  town  of  Edinburgh,  which  was 
built  on  his  farm  and  has  laid  off  the  fourth  addi- 
tion to  the  place.  Within  the  corporate  limits 
are  now  comprised  eighty  acres.  He  has  been  in- 
strumental in  the  upbuilding  of  the  county  from 
an  early  day,  and  has  ever  borne  his  part  in  the 
work  of  public  improvement  and  advancement. 
He  has  seen  the  many  changes  that  have  taken 
place,  and  has  watched  with  interest  the  onward 
march  of  progress  that  has  placed  Christian  Coun- 
ty in  the  front  rank  in  Illinois. 

On- the  7th  of  October,  1847,  Capt.  De  Camp 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Pernecy  Langley,  a 
native  of  Kentucky,  who  in  early  childhood  was 
brought  to  Christian  County,  in  1828.  She  is  a 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


243 


most  estimable  lady  and  presides  with  grace  over 
the  hospitable  home  where  their  many  friends  de- 
light to  gather.  In  politics,  the  Captain  has  been 
a  Republican  since  the  organization  of  the  party. 
He  voted  that  ticket  when  he  and  William  George 
were  the  only  Republicans  in  the  precinct.  He 
was  elected  Justice  of  the  Peace,  filling  the  office 
eight  years,  and  was  the  first  Postmaster  of  Edin- 
burgh. He  established  the  office  and  named  it 
Blueville.  While  in  the  war  he  resigned  the  posi- 
tion, in  1863.  He  again  was  Postmaster  under 
Gen.  Grant,  and  during  that  time  changed  the 
name  to  Edinburgh.  The  Captain  was  one  of  the 
organizers  of  Mother  Bickerdike  Post  No.  402,  G. 
A.  R.,  at  Edinburgh,  was  Commander  of  the  same 
for  three  terms,  and  largely  through  his  instru- 
mentality a  good  hall  was  built  for  the  society. 
He  is  now  engaged  in  dealing  in  fine  horses,  and 
is  a  true  lover  of  the  noble  steed.  He  owns  sev- 
eral of  the  best  horses  that  can  be  found  in  this 
part  of  the  State.  The  Captain  is  a  gentleman  in 
the  truest  and  best  sense  of  the  word,  is  genial  and 
pleasant  in  manner,  kindly  and  generous  in  dispo- 
sition, and  has  the  warm  regard  of  all  who  know 
him. 


eHARLES  WALTER  SIBLEY,  residing  on 
section  6,  Pana  Township,  was  born  in  the 
Bay  State,  the  place  of  his  birth  being 
Spencer,  Worcester  County,  Mass.,  and  the  date 
July  2,  1826.  His  grandfather,  Paul  Sibley,  was 
a  native  of  the  same  town,  was  of  English  descent 
and  was  a  farmer  by  occupation.  The  father,  Wal- 
ter Livermore  Sibley,  was  born  in  Spencer,  where 
he  followed  farming  and  was  a  prominent  and  in- 
fluential citizen.  He  served  as  Colonel  in  the  State 
militia,  was  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  filled  many 
offices  of  honor  and  trust,  and  was  a  Deacon,  Choris- 
ter and  Sunday-school  Superintendent  for  many 
years.  He  married  Ruth  Watson  Ryan,  who  was 
born  in  Spencer,  of  Irish  parentage.  Her  father, 
Samuel  Ryan,  was  born  in  the  Bay  State  and  had 
a  family  of  fourteen  children,  thirteen  of  whom 


attended  school  at  one  time.  Mr.  Sibley,  father 
of  our  subject,  died  at  the  age  of  forty-five,  and 
his  wife,  who  long  survived  him,  passed  away  in 
Christian  County,  111.,  at  the  age  of  ninety-four. 
Their  family  numbered  three  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters: Mary,  who  died  in  infancy;  R.  Eliza,  of  Pana 
Township;  William  Evans,  who  is  living  in  the 
same  township;  and  Henry  Nelson,  who  was 
drowned  at  the  age  of  sixteen.  Two  nephews, 
David  and  Nelson  Scott,  late  prominent  and  suc- 
cessful druggists  in  Worcester,  Mass.,  were  reared 
in  the  family.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sibley  stood  with 
David  Scott,  the  father,  in  three  marriages,  and 
in  1851  Mrs.  Sibley  stood  alone  with  Mr.  Scott,  the 
fourth  time  as  his  wife,  and  died  his  widow. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  remained  upon  the 
home  farm  until  nineteen  years  of  age  and  at- 
tended the  district  and  high  schools.  He  then  en- 
tered Leicester  Academy,  graduating  in  1850,  and 
later  became  a  student  in  Yale  College.  When  his 
education  was  completed,  he  became  clerk  for  the 
Ryan  Manufacturing  Company,  of  Norfolk,  Conn., 
and  continued  his  connection  with  that  firm  for  four 
years.  On  the  day  of  his  marriage  the  firm  made 
an  assignment,  and  he  lost  nearly  all  he  had,  but  he 
managed  to  open  a  general  store  in  Norfolk,  where 
he  carried  on  business  for  two  years.  On  the  ex- 
piration of  that  period,  he  sold  out  and  emigrated 
Westward,  locating  in  Louisiana,  Mo.,  where  he 
carried  on  merchandising  until  1859.  That  year 
witnessed  his  arrival  in  Pana,  where,  with  G.  P. 
Lawrence,  he  carried  on  a  general  store  until  the 
breaking  out  of  the  war. 

In  1861,  Mr.  Sibley  donned  the  blue  as  a  de- 
fender of  the  Union,  becoming  a  member  of  the 
Fifth  Illinois  Cavalry.  He  enlisted  as  a  private, 
but  was  promoted  to  be  Commissary  Sergeant  and 
clerk  of  the  regiment.  After  a  year,  on  the  reor- 
ganization of  the  regiment,  he  was  tendered  a  com- 
mission as  Quartermaster,  but  declined.  Return- 
ing to  Pana,  he  secured  a  position  as  clerk  in. the 
office  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company, 
where  he  remained  for  a  year,  and  then  removed 
to  Pleasant  Mound,  his  present  home,  in  1855. 
Within  the  boundaries  of  his  homestead  are  com- 
prised four  hundred  and  fifty  acres,  the  greater 
part  of  which  is  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation. 


244 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


In  November,  1855,  Mr.  Sibley  wedded  Susan 
Pettibone  Lawrence,  daughter  of  E.  Grove  Law- 
rence, of  Norfolk,  Conn.,  where  the  lady  was  born 
and  reared.  They  have  adopted  four  children.' 
Elizabeth,  who  came  to  them  at  the  age  of  twelve, 
is  a  graduate  of  the  Protestant  Hospital  of  St.  Louis, 
and  is  now  a  professional  nurse  in  that  city.  Josie, 
eighteen  years  of  age,  William  Michael,  also  eigh- 
teen years  of  age,  and  Rose  Michael,  a  maiden 
of  sixteen,  are  still  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sibley. 

Our  subject  was  reared  a  Whig,  became  a  Free 
Soiler,  and  then  a  Republican.  He  now  votes  with 
the  Prohibition  party.  He  has  always  been  a  strong 
temperance  man  and  has  never  even  used  tobacco 
in  any  shape.  He  gives  his  support  to  whatever 
lends  to  upbuild  the  moral  interests  of  the  com- 
munity and  prove  of  public  benefit.  The  cause  of 
education  finds  in  him  a  friend;  and  as  a  member 
and  Secretary  of  the  Educational  Board,  he  was  ac- 
tive in  organizing  the  graded  system  of  Pana  and  in 
building  the- first  school  building.  Afterward  for 
fifteen  years  he  was  School  Trustee.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Good  Templars'  Society  and  the  Grange, 
and  is  a  faithful  and  consistent  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  He  served  both  as  Deacon 
and  Elder  from  1860  until  1885,  and  bore  a  prom- 
inent part  in  promoting  the  work  and  interests  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church.  He  is  now  serving  as 
Superintendent  of  the  District  Sunday-school.  His 
life  has  been  well  and  worthily  spent,  and  he  can 
look  over  the  past  with  little  regret. 


\F_^  T.  GARDNER,  a  genial,  popular  and  highly 

rjV  esteemed    gentleman,  who  follows  general 

&%?    farming  on  section  16,  Buckhart  Township, 

((^)  is  a  native  of  Maury    County,  Tenn.,  born 

June  12,  1841.     His  father,  Nathan  Gardner,  was 

born  in  the  same  State  in  1817,  and  his  mother, 

who  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Frances  Harris,  was 

born  in  Virginia,  in   1818.     Their  marriage    was 

celebrated  in  the  State  of  his  nativity,  where  they 


resided  until  1841,  which  year  witnessed  their 
emigration  to  Illinois.  They  took  up  their  resi- 
dence m  Fayette  County,  where  they  made  their 
home  until  1856,  when  they  came  to  Christian 
County,  locating  in  Buckhart  Township.  Here 
Mr.  Gardner  carried  on  agricultural  pursuits  until 
his  death,  which  occured  on  the  22d  of  January, 
1889,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two.  His  wife  still 
survives  him  and  is  now  living  in  Sharpsburg. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  the  third  in  order 
of  birth  in  a  family  of  eleven  children,  of  whom 
four  sons  and  two  daughters  are  now  living.  It 
was  during  his  infancy  that  his  parents  came  to 
Illinois,  so  that  he  has  no  recollection  of  his  native 
State  as  a  place  of  residence.  He  remained  under 
the  parental  roof  until  he  had  attained  his  ma- 
jority, and  his  boyhood  days  were  quietly  passed 
midst  play  and  work.  He  attended  the  district 
schools  during  the  winter  season,  thus  acquiring  a 
good  English  education,  while  his  time  in  summer 
months  was  devoted  to  farm  labor. 

In  August,  1864,  Mr.  Gardner  led  to  the  mar- 
riage altar  Miss  Clarinda  Doak,  who  died  the  same 
year.  For  his  second  wife  he  chose  Miss  Harriet 
Ward,  a  native  of  Macon  County,  111.,  and  by 
their  union  has  been  born  a  family  of  three  sons, 
William,  Lewis  and  Frank,  who  arc  still  living 
with  their  parents  and  aid  their  father  in  his  farm- 
ing duties.  Since  1864,  Mr.  Gardner  has  resided 
upon  the  farm  which  is  now  his  home.  He  first 
purchased  eighty  acres  and  began  its  development, 
but  as  his  financial  resources  have  increased  lie  has 
added  to  his  landed  possessions  from  time  to  time, 
until  he  now  owns  two  hundred  acres  of  rich  and 
fertile  farming  land.  In  connection  with  its  cul- 
tivation, he  also  raises  some  good  stock,  making  a 
specialty  of  the  breeding  of  Shorthorn  cattle. 

Mr.  Gardner  has  several  times  been  called  upon 
to  serve  in  positions  of  public  trust  by  his  fellow- 
townsmen,  who  have  recognized  his  worth  and 
ability.  He  was  Road  Commissioner  for  the  long 
period  of  fifteen  years,  and  is  now  Trustee  of  the 
school  funds.  Socially,  he  is  connected  with  Edin- 
burgh Lodge  No.  647,  A.  F.  <fe  A.  M.;  and  religiously 
with  the  Free  Baptist  Church.  In  politics  he  is  an 
advocate  of  the  Democracy.  Pleasant  and  social 
in  manner,  he  gains  friends  wherever  he  goes  and 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


245 


has  a  host  of  them  in  this  community.  He  is  one 
of  the  leading  and  influential  citizens  of  Buck- 
hart  Township,  and  it  is  with  pleasure  that  we  pre- 
sent to  our  readers  this  record  of  his  life  work. 


.  PRATER,  an  attorney  of  Edinburgh,  and 
President  of  the  Citizens'  State  Bank,  is  a 
native  of  Illinois.  He  was  born  in  Fay- 
ette  County,  January  21,  1851,  and  is  a  son  of 
Elislia  and  Nancy  (Watkins)  Prater.  His  father 
was  born  in  Tennessee  in  1815,  and  was  of  Irish 
descent.  In  his  native  State  he  was  reared  upon 
a  farm,  and  in  1840  emigrated  to  Fayette  County, 
111.,  where  he  met  and  married  Miss  Watkins,  her 
family  having  there  located  in  a  very  early  day. 
In  1861,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Prater  came  to  Christian 
County,  where  the  father  died  in  1887,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-two  years.  His  widow  is  still  living  in 
Edinburgh.  They  were  the  parentsof  nine  children, 
five  sons  and  four  daughters,  two  of  whom  died  in 
infancy.  Louisa  J.  is  now  the  wife  of  A.  McCarty, 
of  Edinburgh;  J.  A.  is  living  in  Taylorville;  C.A. 
is  the  next  younger;  Sarah  J.  is  the  wife  of  Henry 
Jenkins,  of  Centralia,  111.;  and  Mary  C.  is  the  wife 
of  W.  W.  Love,  of  Edinburgh. 

Our  subject  is  the  fifth  in  order  of  birth.  When 
a  lad  of  ten  summers  he  came  with  his  parents  to 
Christian  County.  He  began  his  education  in  the 
district  schools  of  Fayette  County,  and  completed 
it  in  this  county.  Upon  the  home  farm  he  was 
reared  to  manhood,  and  to  his  father  gave  the 
benefit  of  his  services  until  twenty-four  years  of 
age,  when  he  began  teaching  in  the  district  schools, 
which  profession  he  followed  for  a  period  of  seven 
years.  During  that  time  he  began  studying  law, 
and  pursued  hid  researches  in  that  direction  with  a 
law  firm  in  Springfield.  After  thorough  prepar- 
ation he  was  admitted  to  the  Bar,  in  January,  1882, 
and  at  once  entered  upon  the  practice  of  his 
chosen  profession.  Locating  in  Edinburgh,  he  has 
here  since  made  his  home  and  has  been  numbered 
among  its  leading  attorneys. 
11 


In  1877,  Mr.  Prater  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Miss  Martha  J.  Finley,  a  native  of  Christian 
County,  111.  Their  union  has  been  blessed  with 
one  son,  Lyman,  who  is  still  with  his  parents.  In 
his  political  views,  Mr.  Prater  is  a  Democrat,  has 
served  as  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  has  held  other 
local  offices.  In  his  social  relations  he  is  con- 
nected with  Edinburgh  Lodge  No.  631, 1.  0.  O.  F., 
of  Edinburgh,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Christian 
Church.  He  possesses  skill  and  ability  as  a  lawyer 
and  has  secured  a  large  number  of  clients.  The 
liberal  patronage  which  he  receives  is  well  merited, 
for  he  takes  rank  among  the  prominent  leading 
practitioners  of.  the  community.  He  is  also  Presi- 
dent of  the  Citizens'  State  Bank,  and  is  recognized 
as  an  enterprising,  progressive  and  public-spirited 
citizen  of  Edinburgh. 


DOLPHUS  DE  BARR  has  been  engaged 
in  agricultural  pursuits  for  the  pastthirty 
years  and  has  made  it  the  business  of  his 
life.  He  is  of  French  and  English  extrac- 
tion, and  was  born  in  Virginia  April  28, 1834.  He 
is  one  of  the  most  successful  farmers  of  the  county, 
and  is  one  of  the  extensive  land-owners  of  Locust 
Township,  his  home  being  on  section  21.  He  is  a 
man  of  broad  and  liberal  views,  who  has  the  wel- 
fare of  the  entire  community  always  at  heart,  and 
both  himself  and  wife  are  highly  respected  and 
merit  the  esteem  accorded  them  by  one  and  all. 

The  father  of  our  subject,  John  De  Barr,  was 
also  a  native  of  the  Old  Dominion,  where  he  grew 
to  manhood  and  chose  for  his  life  companion  Miss 
Sarah  Daws.  The  birthplace  of  this  lady  -was  in 
Virginia,  and  by  her  marriage  she  became  the  mo- 
ther of  four  children,  the  eldest  of  whom  is  our 
subject.  William,  the  next  younger,  is  now  liv- 
ing at  the  home  of  his  brother;  Mary,  deceased, 
was  buried  in  Taylorville;  and  Harriet  is  the  wife 
of  Isaac  McCune,  of  Taylorville. 

Adolphus  De  Barr  started  out  to  fight  life's  bat- 
tles at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  empty-handed. 


246 


^OETRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


He  learned  the  carpenter's  trade,  at  which  he 
worked  in  Taylorville  for  several  years  after  his 
arrival  in  the  West,  in  1857.  He  commenced 
farming  about  1863,  since  which  time  he  has  made 
it  his  chief  business.  He  has  been  successful  be- 
yond his  expectations,  and  now  at  the  end  of  three 
decades  finds  himself  possessed  of  about  five  hun- 
dred acres  of  fertile  farm  land  under  good  im- 
provement. 

In  December,  1857,  was  celebrated  the  first  mar- 
riage of  our  subject,  Sarah  Ann  Huffman  being  the 
lady  of  his  choice.  She  was  a  native  of  Ohio,  and 
to  her  were  born  four  children.  Joseph  and  James 
are  living  at  home;  John  is  a  merchant,  conduct- 
ing a  general  store  at  Millersville,  Locust  Town- 
ship; and  Annie  is  the  wife  of  Joshua  Cleary,  a 
farmer  of  the  same  township.  The  present  wife 
of  Mr.  De  Barr  was  formerly  Miss  Sarah  Ann 
Leeper.  Their  marriage  took  place  in  Christian 
County  in  1874.  Mrs.  De  Barr  was  born  in  Noble 
County,  Ohio,  and  is  of  Irish  and  German  ances- 
try, being  first  cousin  to  Ira  D.  Sankey,  the  world- 
renowned  singer.  They  became  the  parents  of 
five  children:  Willie.  Mary,  Erma,  Albert  L.  and 
Eugene.  Willie  aud  Eugene  died  in  early  child- 
hood. 

Our  subject  deposits  his  ballot  in  favor  of  the 
Democratic  party  and  supports  its  principles.  In 
his  social  relations  he  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
order  and  is  a  Royal  Arch  Mason.  As  an  industri- 
ous man,  whose  course  in  life  has  been  marked 
by  strict  attention  to  his  own  affairs  and  a  high 
regard  for  the  rights  of  others,  he  well  merits  the 
respect  and  confidence  in  an  eminent  degree  of 
his  hosts  of  friends  and  neighbors. 


,EUBEN  WILKINSON  is  one  of  the  best- 
known  citizens  of  Taylorville,  and  a  his- 
toiy  of  Christian  County    would  be  in- 
complete without  the  life  record  of  this 
worthy  man.     His  energy  and  determination  have 
made  a  success  of  his  life,  and  it  is  with  pleasure 


that  we  present  to  our  readers  this  account  of  him. 
He  was  born  in  Kentucky,  but  when  a  small  boy 
accompanied  his  parents  to  the  prairies  of  Illinois, 
so  that  nearly  his  entire  life  of  seventy  years  has 
been  intimately  connected  with  the  development 
and  prosperity  of  this  section  of  the  State.  His 
boyhood  days  were  indications  of  his  after  years, 
and,  early  learning  the  value  of  a  dollar,  he 
was  not  slow  to  develop  a  trait  for  money-mak- 
ing, and  to  that  end  he  has  devoted  most  of  his 
time  His  business  ability  was  soon  recognized, 
and  for  nearly  half  a  century  he  has  been  classed 
as  one  of  the  successful  financiers  of  this  county. 
Not  having  the  advantages  afforded  by  the  schools 
of  the  day  for  academic  studies,  his  education  is 
mostly  of  a  practical  kind;  and  though  his  atten- 
tion has  been  fully  engrossed  by  business  cares,  the 
years  of  application  have  had  such  an  effect  upon 
him  that  no  little  thought  and  attention  are  given 
to  the  affairs  of  his  friends  and  neighbors  as  well 
as  to  his  own.  Probably  no  man  in  the  county  is 
of  a  more  helpful  nature  than  he. 

When  yet  a  young  man,  Mr.  Wilkinson  married 
Miss  Hester  Pratt,  a  native  of  England,  and  unto 
them  have  been  born  two  children:  George  C.  and 
Emma  J.,  wife  of  George  P.  Nerrington,  a  banker 
of  Edinburgh.  He  has  not  stood  aloof  in  investing 
his  means  in  such  measures  as  would  develop  the 
resources  of  his  home  and  city,  but  has  given  lib- 
erally. The  present  coal  interests  are  largely  de- 
pendent upon  him  for  development.  The  fine 
flouring  plant  of  the  Ruth  Mills  owes  its  existence 
to  him.  It  was  erected  in  1867,  at  a  cost  of  $27,- 
000,  and  since  then  the  firm  of  Price  &  Wilkinson 
lias  done  an  extensive  and  successful  milling  busi- 
ness. Illustrative  of  the  boldness  of  his  business 
methods,  he,  not  content  to  market  the  mill  prod- 
ucts near  home,  shipped  his  fine  flour  to  the 
world's  milling  center,  Minneapolis,  and  there 
secured  a  market  for  much  of  his  surplus  goods. 
He  has  probably  been  financially  interested  in 
more  enterprises  than  any  other  man  in  this  local- 
ity, and  when  he  has  had  full  control,  or  his  ad- 
vice has  been  closely  followed,  disaster  has  not 
overtaken  any  of  his  business  ventures. 

Mr.  Wilkinson  is  an  enthusiastic  advocate  of 
Prohibition.  Not  only  by  precept,  but  by  ex- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


247 


ample  as  well,  has  he  advocated  temperance.  He 
has  never  sought  public  office,  preferring  to  devote 
himself  to  the  more  congenial  commercial  life.  He 
has  a  rugged  nature — the  diamond  in  the  rough — 
but  is  warm  hearted  and  true.  Of  a  genial,  so- 
cial nature,  he  has  hosts  of  warm  friends,  who  es- 
teem him  highly  and  delight  in  his  successes.  His 
home  is  the  abode  of  hospitality,  his  estimable  wife 
being  a  lady  of  many  excellencies  of  character, 
and  having  the  happy  faculty  of  making  her 
guests  feel  at  ease. 


JAMES  H.  JOHNSTON,  a  well-to-do  farmer 
of  Johnson    Township,  has   been   engaged 
in  farming  in  Christian  County  for  nearly 
forty    years,   and    has    been   a   prominent 
factor  in   the  development    of    this   region.     He 
was  born   in    Delaware  County,  Ohio,  November 
22,  1836.     He  removed  with  his  parents  to  Madi- 
son County,  the  same  State,  and  later  arrived  in 
this  county  in  1854. 

Our  subject's  father,  Alexander  Johnston,  was 
born  in  Ireland  in  1818.  His  father  was  a  soldier 
in  the  British  army  for  five  years.  In  1825, 
Alexander  Johnston  crossed  the  Atlantic  and  first 
settled  in  Pike  County,  Pa.  In  1831,  he  emi- 
grated to  Ohio,  where  the  following  year  he  mar- 
ried Susan  Allen,  who  was  born  and  reared  in 
Delaware  County,  that  State.  She  was  of  German 
origin,  her  father  having  emigrated  from  the 
Fatherland  and  settled  in  Virginia  at  an  early  day. 
Mr.  Johnston  died  in  1871,  and  lies  buried  in 
Anderson  Cemetery,  Johnson  Township.  His  wife, 
who  died  two  years  later,  now  rests  by  his  side  in 
the  same  cemetery.  They  were  the  parents  of 
eleven  children,  our  subject  being  the  second  in 
order  of  birth. 

Until  reaching  his  majority,  James  H.  Johnston 
resided  with  his  parents  and  received  a  good 
education.  Having  been  brought  up  to  the  busi- 
ness of  farming  and  stock-raising,  he  felt  himself 
best  qualified  for  that  occupation  and  chose  it  as 


his  life  work.  He  has  been  successful  to  an  emi- 
nent degree  in  his  business  undertakings,  as  will 
be  seen  from  the  fact  that  he  is  at  present  the 
owner  of  five  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  fertile 
farm  land,  which  is  all  under  good  improvement 
and  is  well  stocked  with  horses,  cattle,  sheep  and 
hogs.  Mr.  Johnston  usually  has  on  hand  from 
one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  head  of 
cattle,  and  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two 
hundred  and  fifty  head  of  hogs.  He  is  also  en- 
gaged in  buying,  selling  and  shipping  live  stock 
to  a  considerable  extent,  is  a  good  judge  of  their 
value,  and  has  made  considerable  money  in  that 
direction.  He  is  well  known  as  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal farmers  of  the  township,  and  has  made  his 
home  on  his  present  farm  for  some  fifteen  years. 
He  has  a  pleasant  and  comfortable  residence  and 
good  farm  buildings  upon  the  place. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Johnston  took  place  March 
18,  1879,  when  Miss  Hattie  Murray,  of  La  Salle 
County,  111.,  became  his  wife.  They  have  had  born 
to  them  five  children,  who  are  all  living  and  at 
home.  In  order  of  birth  they  are  as  follows: 
Eugene,  Grace,  Pearl,  Blanche  and  James.  The 
parents  are  highly  respected  citizens,  and  are  well 
received  in  the  social  circles  of  the  neighborhood 
in  which  they  dwell.  Our" subject  is  a  Democrat 
politically,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  order. 


E.  SEATON,  who  is  the  present  Super- 
visor of  Buckhart  Township,  follows  farm- 
ing on  section  30,  where  he  has  a  well-im- 
proved and  valuable  tract  of  land.  One  of  Illi- 
nois' native  sons,  he  was  born  in  Fayette  County 
on  the  5th  of  November,  1840,  and  is  a  son  of 
William  and  Ellen  (Williams)  Seaton.  The  father 
was  born  and  reared  in  Tennessee,  and  in  1830 
emigrated  to  this  State,  locating  in  Fayette  County, 
where  he  entered  land  from  the  Government  at 
$1.25  per  acre.  Upon  the  farm  which  he  there 
improved  his  death  occurred  at  the  age  of  forty- 
two.  His  wife  was  also  a  native  of  Tennessee, 


248 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


and  was  called  to  her  final  rest  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
seven.  The  family  numbered  seven  children, 
four  sons  and  three  daughters,  all  of  whom  grew 
to  manhood  and  womanhood.  Levi  is  now  living 
in  Fayette  County;  Louisa  is  the  wife  of  James 
Little,  of  the  same  county;  Amanda  is  the  widow 
of  Tony  B.  Williams,  of  Fayette  County;  Clarissa 
is  the  wife  of  John  Farber,  of  Fayette  County; 
W.  E.  is  the  next  younger;  John  is  now  deceased; 
and  Riley  is  living  in  Fayette  County. 

In  the  usual  manner  of  farmer  lads  the  subject 
of  this  sketch  was  reared  to  manhood.  The  com- 
mon schools  afforded  him  his  educational  priv- 
ileges. He  studied  through  the  winter  season  and 
in  the  summer  months  aided  in  the  labors  of  the 
fields.  Having  arrived  at  years  of  maturity,  he 
was  married,  in  1862,  to  Julia  Piatt,  a  native  of 
Fayette  County  and  a  daughter  of  John  F.  Piatt. 
Unto  them  were  born  four  children:  Marinda,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  six  years;  John  W.,  Jesse  E. 
and  Gordon  E.,  who  were  born  on  the  Seaton  farm 
in  this  county,  and  are  still  with  their  father.  The 
mother  of  this  family  was  called  to  her  final  rest 
February  22,  1888,  and  her  death  was  widely 
mourned  by  a  large  circle  of  warm  friends. 

Mr.  Seaton  came  to  this  county  in  1865,  and  lo- 
cated upon  the  farm  which  has  since  been  his 
home.  There  was  a  small  house  upon  it,  but  no 
other  improvements,  and  the  place  of  which  he 
came  into  possession  bears  little  resemblance  to 
the  fine  farm  of  to-day.  Within  the  boundaries 
are  comprised  three  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
rich  land,  which  by  well-kept  fences  is  divided 
into  fortj'-acre  fields,  all  under  a  high  state  of 
cultivation.  There  are  a  tasty  residence,  good  barns 
and  outbuildings  and  all  the  accessories  and  con- 
veniences of  a  farm  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
In  connection  with  theraisingof  crops,  Mr.  Seaton 
is  also  engaged  in  stock-raising,  and  this  branch 
of  his  business  yields  him  a  good  income. 

Our  subject  exercises  his  right  of  franchise  in 
support  of  the  Democratic  part}'.  In  1889  he  was 
elected  Supervisor  of  the  township,  and  has  since 
been  unanimously  re-elected  to  that  position,  be- 
ing the  choice  of  both  parties.  He  has  served  for 
twenty-one  years  as  School  Director,  and  has  done 
much  to  advance  the  cause  of  education  in  this 


community.  He  proves  a  faithful  and  competent 
officer,  and  the  trust  reposed  in  him  is  never  be- 
trayed. No  better  citizen  can  be  found  in  the 
community  than  Mr.  Seaton,  who  always  bears  his 
part  in  the  work  of  public  improvement,  and  in 
private  life  is  alike  true. 


§HOMAS  J.  ELLIOTT  was  one  of  the  hon- 
ored early  settlers  and  representative  men 
of  Christian  County.  From  his  early  years 
he  was  obliged  to  depend  upon  his  own  resources, 
and  was  a  self-educated  and  self-made  man.  He 
was  a  native  of  Illinois,  having  been  born  in  Clay 
County  on  the  16th  of  February,  1829.  He  be- 
came a  resident  of  this  county  in  1853,  and  was 
located  in  Taylorville  Township,  on  section  29, 
for  about  a  quarter  of  a  century. 

His  father  dying  when  he  was  young,  Mr.  El- 
liott began  working  when  only  about  nine  3rears  old, 
and  received  for  a  number  of  years  only  twenty- 
five  cents  per  day  for  his  services.  His  education 
was  necessarily  very  limited,  and  it  was  owing  to 
his  habits  of  study  and  desire  for  information  that 
he  acquired  such  as  he  possessed.  After  living 
for  a  number  of  years  in  his  native  county,  he 
went  to  Sangamon  County,  where  he  made  his 
home  for  some  time,  and,  as  previously  stated,  came 
to  Christian  County  in  1853.  For  some  years  he 
was  a  resident  of  Bear  Creek  Township,  thence  re- 
moving to  Taylorville  Township.  In  1868  he 
purchased  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  acres, 
to  the  cultivation  of  which  he  devoted  himself 
during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  afterward 
purchased  another  thirty-acre  tract,  and  there  en- 
gaged in  general  farming  and  stock-raising  with 
good  success. 

On  the  26th  of  December,  1868,  was  celebrated 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Elliott  and  Miss  Ruth  Clay- 
ton, who  was  born  in  Sangamon  County,  and  re- 
moved with  her  parents,  Jefferson  and  Elizabeth 
(Scott)  Clayton,  to  Christian  County  when  she 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD.    . 


249 


was  a  little  girl.  To  our  subject  and  his  wife  was 
born  a  family  of  eight  children,  who,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  one,  are  still  living.  They  are  as  fol- 
lows: Luella,  Alvin  I.,  Minnie  E.,  Worthy  E.. 
Dwight,  Ida  M.,  Franklin  O.  and  Leda  G.  Myrtle 
is  deceased. 

The  death  of  Mr.  Elliott  occurred  on  the  12th 
of  February,  1888,  and  his  mortal  remains  were 
placed  to  rest  in  the  Taylorville  Cemetery.  In 
politics,  he  was  ever  to  be  found  in  the  ranks  of 
the  Democratic  party,  and  was  greatly  interested 
in  promoting  the  welfare  of  the  community  with 
which  his  lot  was  cast.  His  widow  and  children 
are  still  living  on  the  old  homestead,  and  occupy 
a  high  place  in  the  friendship  and  good-will  of 
their  friends  and  neighbors.  Mr.  Elliott's  course 
in  life  deserves  the  highest  commendation,  as  he 
was  possessed  of  a  courage  and  fortitude  which 
surmounted  all  obstacles  in  his  pathway.  Of  these 
there  were  truly  more  than  falls  to  the  lot  of  most 
men,  but  he  at  last  reached  the  goal  of  his  hopes, 
becoming  a  good  citizen,  a  practical  and  progress- 
ive farmer,  and  a  friend  who  could  be  ever  re- 
lied upon. 


§EVERLY  VAN  BUREN  MARTIN,  who  is 
engaged  in  the  dray  and   transfer  business 
in  Taylorville,  comes  from  the  far-off  State 
of  West  Virginia.     He  was  born   in  Harri- 
son County,  on  the  6th  of  July,  1840,  and  is  a  son 
of  John  B.  and  Mary  Ann   (Wood)   Martin,  who 
were    both    natives   of    the    Old   Dominion.     His 
grandfather,  Levi  Martin,  was  born  in  West  Vir- 
ginia, and  there  followed  the  occupation  of  farm- 
ing for  many  years.     He   was  called   to   his  final 
rest  in  1845,  when  about  eighty-five  years  of  age. 
The    maternal    grandfather  of    our  subject,  Alex- 
ander Wood,   carried  on   agricultural  pursuits  in 
Virginia,  the  State  of  his  nativity. 

Of  the  family  of  ten  children,  numbering  six 
sons  and  four  daughters,  to  which  our  subject  be- 
longed, six  are  now  living,  namely:  Martha  E., 


wife  of  Monterville  Bartlett;  Emery;  Catherine 
E.,  wife  of  John  Payne;  Beverly  V.  B.,  whose  name 
heads  this  sketch;  Cree;  and  Homer.  The  father 
of  this  family  carried  on  farming  and  stock-deal- 
ing in  West  Virginia,  where  his  death  occurred  in 
February,  1892,  at  the  ripe  old  age  of  eighty-four 
years.  He  had  long  survived  his  wife,  who  had 
passed  away  in  1851.  Both  were  consistent  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  Church.  Mr.  Martin  was  a 
second  time  married,  the  lady  of  his  choice  being 
Miss  Hannah  Bailey,  a  daughter  of  Albert  Bailey, 
of  Virginia.  She  now  makes  her  home  in  Des 
Moines,  Iowa. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  remained  upon  the 
home  farm  in  the  State  of  his  birth  until  sixteen 
years  of  age,  when  he  began  the  study  of  medi- 
cine. For  two  years  his  energies  were  directed 
along  that  line,  after  which  he  went  to  California, 
in  1861,  spending  four  years  upon  the  Pacific 
Slope.  Returning  to  West  Virginia  in  1865,  he 
there  remained  until  1870,  when  he  determined  to 
seek  a  home  in  the  West.  Coining  to  Illinois,  he 
located  in  Dorchester,  where  he  embarked  in  mer- 
chandising and  also  engaged  in  buying  stock.  It 
was  in  the  centennial  year  of  1876  that  he  went 
to  Staunton,  where  he  carried  on  the  livery  busi- 
ness until  1880.  That  year  witnessed  his  arrival 
in  Taylorville.  Here  he  again  opened  a  livery 
stable,  carrying  on  business  along  that  line  until 
September,  1892,  when  he  sold  out  to  Messrs. 
Fisher  <fe  Kinney.  He  also  imported  Clyde,  Ham- 
bletonian,  Perclieron  and  Norman  stallions.  Since 
disposing  of  his  livery  business  he  has  continued 
in  the  dray  and  transfer  business. 

On  the  22d  of  May,  1871,  Mr.  Martin  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Miss  Mary  Ann  Wayne,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Churchill  and  Mary  (Kellar)  Wayne,  of 
Dorchester.  By  their  union  they  became  the  parents 
of  four  children,  all  sons:  John,  Frank,  Alonzo 
and  Harry.  The  first-named  died  at  the  age  of 
seventeen  years,  but  the  other  children  are  still 
with  their  parents. 

Socially,  Mr.  Martin  is  connected  with  the  An- 
cient Order  of  United  Workmen,  and  his  wife 
holds  membership  with  the  Cumberland  Presby- 
terian Church.  He  votes  with  the  Republican 
party  and  is  a  stanch  supporter  of  its  principles. 


250 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


He  was  honored  with  the  olfice  of  Mayor  of  Tay- 
lorvillefor  a  term  of  two  years,  was  Supervisor  for 
two  terras,  and  has  been  School  Director  and  Pres- 
ident of  the  East  School  Board  for  seven  years. 
With  promptness  and  fidelity  his  public  duties 
were  discharged.  The  cause  of  education  finds  in 
him  a  warm  friend  and  he  has  done  effective  serv- 
ice in  its  interests.  Besides  his  residence  and 
other  city  property  in  Taylorville,  Mr.  Martin 
owns  one  hundred  and  sixty  .acres  of  farming  land 
in  South  Dakota.  He  lias  a  wide  acquaintance 
throughout  this  community  and  by  his  pleasant, 
genial  manner  and  excellencies  of  character  has 
won  many  warm  friends. 


JOHN  W.  NICODEMUS,  who  is  well  known 
in  Christian  and  neighboring  counties  as  a 
minister  of   the   Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church,  now  owns  a  farm  of  one    hundred 
and  twenty  acres  in  Taylorville  Township.     He 
was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  his  denomination  in 
central  Illinois  and  was  for  a  period  of  twenty-two 
years  on  the  Illinois  circuit.     He  was  zealous  and 
active  for  years  as  a  minister   and   often  walked 
from  ten   to    twenty    miles  to  conduct  a  religious 
service. 

The  birth  of  our  subject  occurred  in  Knox 
County,  Tenn.,  February  29, 1824.  He  is  a  son  of 
Frederick  Nicodemus,  and  is  one  of  two  children, 
he  being  the  eldest,  and  Locky  Ann,  who  is  de- 
ceased. The  mother  died  when  John  was  very 
young,  and  his  father  passed  away  when  he  was 
a  lad  of  only  seven  years.  He  was  taken  by  an 
uncle,  and  remained  with  him  until  he  was  seven- 
teen years  of  age.  Desiring  to  learn  a  trade,  he 
apprenticed  himself  for  two  years  to  a  blacksmith, 
working  for  his  board  and  clothes.  For  two  terms 
he  was  in  Knoxville  pursuing  his  studies.  After- 
wards he  built  a  shop  of  his  own  and  continued  to 
work  at  his  trade  for  a  few  years.  Returning  to 
Knoxville,  be  there  resided  until  1860,  when  he 
came  to  Illinois,  making  the  trip  by  team.  He  lo- 


cated in  what  is  now  King  Township,  and  pur- 
chased eighty  acres  of  unimproved  prairie  land, 
where  he  lived  for  about  five  years. 

Mr.  Nicodemus  became  a  resident  of  Taylorville 
Township  in  1865,  having  sold  his  former  farm 
and  purchased  one  of  eighty  acres  on  section  14. 
There  he  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  for  a 
few  3' ears  and  then  located  on  his  present  farm,  to 
which  he  came  in  1882.  This  property  comprises 
one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  arable  and  well- 
improved  land,  and  has  been  placed  under  a  high 
state  of  cultivation. 

Our  subject  has  been  twice  married,  his  first  un- 
ion being  celebrated  October  3,  1843,  with  Miss 
Mary  E.  Ault,  by  whom  he  had  six  children:  Joel 
A.,  who  died  in  March,  1845;  Martha  A.,  who  died 
in  March,  1847;  William  K.,  a  resident  of  Taylor- 
ville; Wesley  B.,  a  farmer  of  this  county;  Mary  A., 
who  died  January  10,  1852;  and  Willie  B.,  who 
died  April  20,  1854.  The  mother  departed  this 
life  May  7,  1854.  The  second  marriage  of  Mr. 
Nicodemus  was  with  Miss  Mary  A.,  daughter  of 
John  and  Mary  Falkner.  The  wedding  ceremony 
took  place  July  20,  1854.  She  was  born  near 
Knoxville,  Tenn.,  January  20,  1829. 

In  his  political  faith  Mr.  Nicodemus  is  a  Demo- 
crat. He  has  held  the  office  of  Commissioner  of 
Highways  and  lias  been  a  School  Director.  In  his 
early  life  he  met  with  a  great  deal  of  discourage- 
ment, and  is  a  self-educated  as  well  as  a  self-made 
man.  He  has  alwa3's  taken  a  great  and  active  in- 
terest in  all  church  and  educational  work,  and  is 
one  of  the  valued  citizens  of  this  county. 


R.  ANDREW  F.  HAMMER,  of  Taylor- 
ville, who  is  engaged  in  the  practice  of 
the  medical  profession,  was  born  in  the 
city  which  is  now  his  home,  December  7. 
1849.  His  paternal  grandfather,  Frederick  Ham- 
mer, vvas  a  native  of  Kentucky,  and  was  a  black- 
smith and  farmer  by  trade.  Having  emigrated  to 
Illinois  in  an  early  day,  he  served  in  the  Black 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


251 


Hawk  War.  Locating  in  Christian  County,  he 
here  carried  on  agricultural  pursuits  for  a  number 
of  years,  and  his  death  occurred  on  his  farm  two 
and  a-half  miles  from  Taylorville,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-three  years.  He  was  laid  to  rest  in  the' 
Stonington  Cemetery.  The  maternal  grandfather 
of  our  subject,  who  bore  the  name  of  Josiah  Lang- 
ley,  was  also  a  native  of  Kentucky,  and  he  too 
was  a  farmer.  He  died  at  his  home,  three  miles 
west  of  Taylorville,  at  the  age  of  fifty-five  years. 

The  parents  of  our  subject,  Addison  W.  and 
Rebecca  Adeline  (Langley)  Hammer,  were  both 
natives  of  Kentucky.  The  father  was  a  black- 
smith by  trade,  but  after  emigrating  to  Illinois 
became  a  tiller  of  the  soil.  He  came  to  this  State 
in  1827,  locating  with  his  parents  in  Sangamon 
County.  In  1837  the  family  removed  to  the  east- 
ern part  of  Christian  County,  and  lived  near  the 
present  site  of  Moweaqua  until  1847.  In  the 
mean  time  Mr.  Hammer  learned  the  blacksmith's 
trade  from  his  father,  and  then  removed  to  IVylor- 
ville,  where,  in  connection  with  his  brother  Lucian, 
he  carried  on  business  along  that  line  for  some 
years.  He  now  resides  in  Custer,  Sangamon 
County,  and  is  at  present  serving  as  Postmaster  of 
that  place.  His  wife,  who  was  a  member  of  the 
Christian  Church,  died  in  the  fall  of  1865,  and  in 
1868  Mr.  Hammer  married  Miss  Millie  AVoods, 
who  was  also  born  and  reared  in  Kentucky.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Universalist  Church,  and  is  a 
highly-respected  man. 

The  Doctor  is  one  of  a  family  of  eight  children, 
numbering  five  sons  and  three  daughters,  of  whom 
the  daughters  and  two  sons  are  now  living.  They 
are  Andrew  F.;  Hugh  L.;  Margaret,  wife  of  Isaac 
B.  Jordan,  a  lawyer  of  Kingman  County,  Kan.; 
Laura  B.,  wife  of  T.  H.  Johnson,  of  Taylorville; 
and  Lura  M.,  wife  of  John  S.  Neal,  of  Springfield, 
111. 

We  now  take  up  the  personal  history  of  the 
Doctor,  who  was  reared  in  this  city  and  vicinity 
and  acquired  his  early  education  in  the  Taylor- 
ville public  schools.  He  remained  at  home  with 
his  parents  until  twenty-seven  years  of  age  and 
aided  in  the  labors  of  the  farm.  With  a  desire  to 
make  the  practice  of  medicine  his  life  work,  he  en- 
tered upon  a  medical  course  in  the  Hahnemaun 


Medical  College,  of  Chicago,  from  which  institu- 
tion he  was  graduated  in  1877.  He  then  located 
in  Custer,  formerly  known  as  Berry,  and  opening 
an  office  began  practice.  For  fifteen  years  he  re- 
mained in  that  place,  receiving  a  liberal  share  of 
the  public  patronage.  He  then  determined  to  re- 
turn to  his  native  city,  and  in  1892  took  up  his 
residence  in  Taylorville,  where  he  has  since  'made 
his  home. 

On  the  14th  of  June,  1878,  the  Doctor  was  uni- 
ted in  marriage  with  Mrs.  Alice  A.  Allen,  widow 
of  John  W.  Allen,  and  a  daughter  of  John  S.  and 
Mary  J.  (Bell)  Dickerson.  Two  children  grace 
their  union:  Stella  P.  and  Lena  J.  The  Doctor 
and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Christian  Church, 
and,  socially,  he  is  connected  with  Mound  Lodge 
No.  122,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  Berry  Lodge  No.  26, 
I.  O.  O.  F.  He  also  belongs  to  the  Modern  Wood- 
men of  America.  He  owns  two  hundred  and  forty 
acres  of  land  half  a  mile  from  Clarksdale,  and  his 
wife  has  a  forty -acre  tract  near  Berry.  They  also 
have  a  residence  property  in  Berry.  In  politics, 
the  Doctor  is  a  Republican  and  a  strong  Protec- 
tionist. Although  he  has  made  his  home  in  Tay- 
lorville but  a  short  time,  he  is  already  building  up 
a  good  trade,  and  his  skill  and  ability  merit  a  lib- 
eral patronage.  He  is  a  pleasant,  genial  gentle- 
man and  is  highly  esteemed  for  his  sterling  worth. 


>INSTON  LEANDER  LONG  has  been  en- 
gaged in  the  mercantile  business  in  Mor- 
risonville  for  a  number  of  years,  being  a 
junior  member  of  the  firm  of  Hewitt  &  Long. 
A.  M.  Hewitt,  of  the  firm,  is  a  brother-in-law  of  our 
subject,  and  they  have  been  in  business  together 
since  1885.  Mr.  Lqng  was  born  in  Christian 
County,  Ky.,  where  the  village  of  Herndon  now 
stands,  January  15, 1851. 

John  Culbertson  Long,  father  of  our  subject,  was 
born  in  Muhlenburg  County,  Ky.,  June  19,  1779. 
His  mother,  Rebecca  Stevenson  (McCormick)  Long 


252 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


was  born  in  Lincoln  County,  N.  C.,  September  18, 
1812.  Her  parents  removed  from  North  Carolina 
to  Missouri  when  she  was  six  months  old,  and 
from  Missouri  to  Kentucky  when  she  was  two 
years  of  age.  She  was  married  to  Mr.  Long  in 
Christian  County,  Ky.,  in  1837. 

Five  sons  and  four  daughters  blessed  their  home. 
The  eldest,  Andrew  McCormick  Long,  died  in  in- 
fancy. John  Turner  Long,  the  second  child,  now 
living  in  Danville,  Ten u.,  is  a  mechanic;  he  was 
married  in  1862  to  Mrs.  Elvira  R.  Luck,  whose 
maiden  name  was  McCraw,  and  they  have  one 
son,  Lucian  Clyde.  The  third  in  order  of  birth, 
Sarah  Ann  Long,  married  Benjamin  Scott  Pickard 
in  1859, and  four  children  came  to  them:  Herschel 
W.,Ida  May,  Minnie  Lee  and  Benjamin  Scott.  Mr. 
Pickard  died  in  1866,  and  some  ten  years  later 
Mrs.  Pickard  married  John  A.  Myers,  of  Dan- 
ville, Tenn.  Two  children,  Hattie  Belle  and  Dora 
Pearl,  were  the  result  of  this  union.  Mrs.  Myers 
died  in  1888,  and  Mr.  Myers  is  now  living  in 
Christian  County,  Ky.  James  Marion  Long,  the 
fourth  child,  was  married  to  Miss  Carrie  McCraw, 
a  niece  of  Mrs.  John  Turner  Long,  in  1867;  they 
have  four  children:  Drucilla  Ann,  Jhumie  L., 
Oscar  Woodson  and  Birch.  The  greater  part  of 
James  Long's  life  has  been  spent  in  merchandising, 
but  a  few  years  ago  he  removed  to  his  farm  near 
Bennettstown,  Christian  County,  Ky.,  where  he  re- 
sides. Eliza  Long,  the  fifth  child,  died  at  about 
three  years  of  age.  Isabella  Washington  Long,  the 
sixth  in  order,  married  James  B.  Radford  in  1867; 
they  had  two  children,  Edgar  Clarence  and  Viola 
Mattie.  Mrs.  Radford  died  in  1874,  and  some  years 
later  Mr.  Radford  married  Miss  Amelia  Park,  and 
now  resides  in  Christian  County,  Ky.  Eudora  Clem- 
entine Long,  the  seventh  child,  married  William  G. 
Williams  in  1877,  and  died  the  year  following. 
Mr.  Williams  died  about  a  year  later.  Fidelia  M. 
Long,  the  ninth  child,  died  at  about  one  year  of 
age. 

Winston  Leander  Long,  the  eighth  child  and 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  passed  his  boyhood  in 
Christian  County,  Ky.,  being  reared  to  agricultural 
pursuits.  After  his  father's  death,  which  occurred 
when  Winston  was  only  ten  years  old,  he  worked 
on  his  mother's  farm,  getting  such  advantages  as 


the  country  schools  afforded.  At  the  age  of  fifteen 
it  became  necessary  for  him  to  take  charge  of  the 
farm,  his  elder  brothers  having  gone  from  home. 
The  war  coming  on  the  year  of  his  father's  death, 
the  freeing  of  the  slaves,  and  the  depreciation 
of  values  generally,  consequent  upon  the  war, 
brought  his  mother  to  very  straitened  circum- 
stances, which  financial  embarrassment  made  it 
trying  for  so  young  a  farmer.  His  opportunities 
were  very  limited  until  the  age  of  eighteen,  when 
he  entered  the  male  academy  at  Garrettsburg,  Ky., 
his  teacher  being  no  less  a  personage  than  that  most 
profound  scholar  and  instructor,  Q.  M.  Tyler,  whose 
name  is  dear  to  so  many  men  who  were  boys  in 
southern  Kentucky  and  northern  Tennessee.  Af- 
ter continuing  here  two  years,  he  returned  to 
the  farm.  For  several  j'ears  after  this,  our  sub- 
ject aspired  to  the  medical  profession,  but  his  ed- 
ucation not  being  entirely  satisfactory,  and  his 
mother  and  two  sisters  still  being  unprotected,  he 
remained  at  home.  He,  however,  began  to  make 
arrangements  to  enter  the  mercantile  business,  and 
in  1874  bought  an  interest  in  his  brother  James' 
grocery  store,  at  Roaring  Spring,  Ky.,  his  brother 
retaining  almost  entire  control.  A  year  or  so  later 
it  became  necessary,  according  to  the  terms  of  his 
father's  will,  to  sell  all  real  estate  belonging  to 
deceased.  Winston  bought  the  homestead,  but 
soon  sold  to  his  brother  James,  and  in  the  spring 
of  1877  he  came  to  Christian  County,  111.,  and 
entered  into  the  dry-goods  business  in  partnership 
with  A.  E.  Boyd,  of  Palmer,  111. 

On  June  19,  1878,  our  subject  was  married  to 
Miss  H.  Lou  Hewitt,  of  Taylorville,  by  the  Rev. 
E.  P.  Rankin,  a  Presbyterian  minister  of  Morrison- 
ville.  Miss  Hewitt  was  the  third  daughter  of 
William  T.  and  Anna  (Gibson)  Hewitt.  Her  eld- 
est brother,  Francis  M.,  died  in  1872.  Olive  C., 
the  second  child,  married  Joseph  S.  Wallace. 
Aurelius  M.,  the  third,  married  Miss  Florence  An- 
derson. James  Byron,  the  fourth,  died  in  1869. 
Laura  J.,  the  fifth,  married  J.  L.  Boyd.  Mrs.  Long, 
the  sixth,  was  born  in  Christian  County,  111.,  Sep- 
tember 23,  1856.  Her  mother  died  when  she  was 
eight  months  old.  Some  three  years  later  her  fa- 
ther married  Miss  Mary  R.  Wilcockson,  a  very 
estimable  lady,  and  daughter  of  Col.  John  H. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


253 


II.  Wilcockson,  of  Sangamon  County,  111.  Three 
children  were  the  result  of  this  union,  William  T., 
Lee  D.  and  Homer  B.  William  T.,  Jr.,  died  in 
1872.  Lee  D.  married  Miss  Ella  Russell. 

William  T.  Hewitt,  Sr.,  was  born  in  Stafford 
County,  Va.,  January  15,  1816.  He  removed  to 
Christian  County,  Ky.,  when  yet  a  young  man, 
and  was  married  there.  He  moved  to  Christian 
County,  111.,  in  1842,  and  became  a  prosperous 
stock-raiser,  farmer  and  a  man  of  wealth.  He  was 
a  good  and  learned  man,  and  a  man  of  sterling 
integrity.  He  died  November  24,  1890.  Mrs. 
Long's  mother,  Anna  (Gibson)  Hewitt,  was  born 
in  Christian  County,  Ky.,  in  1821.  She  was  a  wo- 
man of  piety,  and  was  noted  for  her  benevolent 
and  amiable  disposition,  and  for  her  charity  to  the 
poor.  She  died  June  8,  1857.  Mrs.  Long  is  a 
Christian  lady,  being  an  earnest  worker  and  an  ac- 
tive member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  She  is 
of  high  social  standing,  a  kind  and  affectionate 
wife  and  mother,  and  makes  home  pleasant  and 
happy  for  her  husband  and  little  son. 

In  the  fall  of  1878  the  firm  of  Boyd  &  Long  dis- 
solved, the  former  partner  retiring  and  the  latter 
continuing  in  business.  In  1884,  Mr.  Long  sold  out 
and  moved  to  Sully  County,  S.  Dak.  In  1885,  he 
returned  to  the  Prairie  State,  and  has  since  been 
located  in  Morrison ville.  Socially, he  is  connected 
with  Morrison  ville  Lodge  No.  681,  A.  F.  &  A.  M., 
and  is  a  member  of  Mound  Lodge  and  Chapter  of 
Taylorville.  In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat,  first, 
last  and  all  the  time,  and  is  at  present  serving  as 
Supervisor  of  Ricks  Township.  Mr.  Long  is  quiet 
and  retiring  in  manner,  but  he  has  a  host  of 
friends  and  acquaintances  who  consider  him  a 
man  of  integrity  and  of  a  high  sense  of  honor. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Long  had  only  two  children,  the  elder 
of  whom  died  in  infancy.  The  other,  Troy  Lovell, 
was  born  December  27,  1881.  He  is  now  a  lad  of 
twelve,  healthy,  but  of  a  delicate  frame. 

John  Culbertson  Long,  the  father  of  our  subject, 
was  the  eldest  of  ten  children,  the  second  being 
William;  the  third  was  Robert  F.,  who  married  Lu- 
cretiaBoyd;  the  fourth  Joseph;  the  fifth  William; 
the  sixth  Isaac,  who  married  Sarah  Vincent;  the 
seventh  Agnes  A.;  the  eighth  Mary,  who  married 
Collins  Calvert;  the  ninth  Rebecca,  who  married 


Wilson  Cates;  and  the  tenth  Elizabeth,  who  mar- 
ried Jacob  Gish.  John  Culbertson  Long  was  a 
temperate  man  and  a  Christian,  being  an  Elder  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church  for  a  number  of  years,  or 
up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  July  11, 
1861.  The  grandfather  of  our  subject,  Samuel  C. 
Long,  was  born  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
married  Joanna  Culbertson. 

Rebecca  S.  (McCormick)  Long,  the  mother  of 
our  subject,  was  one  of  a  family  of  six  children. 
The  eldest,  Joseph  Manson  McCormick,  married 
Miss  McKenzie.  Immediately  after  their  mar- 
riage, in  Christian  County,  Ky.,  they  moved  to 
Texas,  which  was  not  yet  admitted  into  the  Union. 
The  opportunities  being  favorable,  he  -became  a 
wealthy  man.  They  had  only  one  son,  Andrew 
Phelps  McCormick,  who  is  now  United  S.tates 
Circuit  Judge  for  the  Fifth  Circuit  in  Texas.  He 
also  sits  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals  at  New 
Orleans  from  the  middle  of  November  to  the  fol- 
lowing June  of  each  year.  Eliza  McCormick,  the 
second,  married  Joseph  Causey.  Juliet  McCor- 
mick, the  third,  married  James  Boyd.  Zillah  A 
McCormick,  the  sixth,  married  Alfred  Boyd,  a 
brother  of  her  sister  Juliet's  husband.  Both  of  the 
Boyds  and  their  families  moved  from  Christian 
County,  Ky.,  and  settled  in  Christian  County,  111. 
They  reared  large  families,  many  of  whom  are 
well-known  and  prominent  business  men  of  this 
county  and  State.  Rebecca  S.  McCormick,  the 
mother  of  our  subject,  had  a  twin  brother,  whose 
name  was  John,  but  he  did  not  survive  infancy. 
She  was  a  very  large  lady,  and  at  one  time  weighed 
nearly  three  hundred  pounds.  She  was  a  woman  of 
considerable  force  of  character,  was  a  great  reader, 
and  was  a  Christian,  having  joined  the  Presb}'- 
terian  Church  when  quite  young,  and  she  remained 
in  it  until  she  died,  March  16,  1881. 

Mrs.  Long's  father,  Andrew  McCormick,  was 
born  in  Lincoln  County,  N.  C.,  in  1780,  and  mar- 
ried Sarah  Steele,  who  was  born  in  the  same  coun- 
ty in  the  year  1775.  The  latter's  family  were 
people  of  wealth  for  their  time,  and  had  great 
force  of  character.  For  some  cause  they  opposed 
their  daughter  Sarah's  marriage  to  Mr.  McCor- 
mick, hence  little  is  known  of  her  ancestors.  She 
had  three  brothers,  however,  one  of  whom  was 


254 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


named  Henry.  Andrew  McCormick  having  died  in 
Christian  County,  Ky.,  in  1822,  she  married  a  man 
by  the  name  of  Howard.  He  died  some  four  years 
after  their  marriage,  and  she  went  to  make  her 
home  with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Rebecca  Long, 
where  she  spent  her  declining  years.  She  died  at 
the  age  of  eighty.  Andrew  McCormick  had  an  older 
brother,  Joseph,  who  moved  from  North  Carolina 
to  Washington  County,  Mo.  One  of  his  sons, 
James  Robinson  McCormick,  now  lives  at  Farming- 
ton,  St.  Francois  County,  Mo.  He  is  a  physician 
by  profession,  and  has  twice  been  elected  State 
Senator,  has  three  times  been  elected  to  Congress, 
and  was  a  General  in  the  Union  army.  He  is  a 
wealthy  man  and  has  retired  from  public  life  and 
from  active  business.  Andrew  had  two  other 
brothers,  David  and  John,  who  died  without  heirs. 
He  had  three  sisters,  Elizabeth,  Catharine  and 
Mary.  Elizabeth  married  Enos  Sherrill.  Cathar- 
ine married  John  Alexander.  Mary  married  A.  T. 
Alexander,  a  brother  of  Catharine's  husband.  The 
families  belonging  to  these  three  sisters  were  peo- 
ple of  prominence. 

The  great-grandfather  of  our  subject  was  also 
named  Andrew  McCormick.  He  emigrated  to  this 
country  from  Ireland  some  time  between  1746  and 
1750.  Information  is  not  definite  as  to  where  he 
was  born,  but  the  impression  is  that  he  was  born  in 
Scotland.  But  if  not  born  in  Scotland,  it  may  be 
stated  with  some  degree  of  certainty  that  he  was 
of  Scotch  descent.  He  met  and  married  Catharine 
Adams  in  Pennsylvania.  She,  Catharine  Adams, 
had  three  brothers,  John,  Peter  and  Jacob,  and 
two  sisters,  Mary  and  Hannah.  Mary  married  a 
man  named  Groves.  Hannah  married  Mr.  Low- 
ranee.  Catharine  (Adams)  McCormick 's  father, 
John  Adams,  is  the  earliest  of  the  common  ances- 
tors, so  far  as  the  knowledge  of  the  subject  of  our 
sketch,  or  family  tradition,  reaches.  This  John 
Adams  was  born  in  Holland  or. in  one  of  the  Ger- 
man Stales.  While  still  a  youth,  he  and  a  sister  of 
his  came  with  a  colony  of  Calvinist  Protestants  to 
New  Jersey.  He  married  and  settled  on  or  near 
the  Delaware  Rivet,  not  far  from  Philadelphia. 
Here  he  resided  with  his  family  until  the  fall  of 
1776.  He  was  an  early  and  ardent  supporter  of  the 
patriot  cause,  and  when  Earl  Cornwallis  overran 


the  Jerseys  in  1776,  John  Adams  moved  his  fam- 
ily into  Pennsylvania,  then  into  Virginia,  and 
about  the  close  of  the  next  year,  1777,  reached 
and  permanently  settled  in  what  is  now  Rowan 
County,  N.  C.  The  McCormicks,  kindred  of  our 
subject,  have  been  farmers,  stock-raisers,  merchants, 
bankers  and  lawyers,  with  an  occasional  physician 
and  Presbyterian  preacher,  but  few  office-holders, 
either  civil  or  military.  Very  many  have  been 
Ruling  Elders  in  the  Presbyterian  Church. 


EDWARD  BUGG,  a  well-known  agriculturist 
of  Christian   County,  has  spent  his  entire 
life   in   May   Township,  having  been  born 
March  31,  1848,  on  the  same  farm  where  he  now 
resides.     This  place  was  entered  from  the  Govern- 
ment by  his  father,  who  was  among  the   pioneers 
of  the  county.     The  home  of  our  subject  is   lo- 
cated on  section    23,  where    he    owns   a  well-im- 
proved farm. 

Edward  Bugg  was  the  seventh  child  in  a  family 
of  eight  children  born  to  Joseph  and  Susanna 
(Peck)  Bugg.  Four  of  the  family  are  now  de- 
ceased. John,  the  eldest  living,  is  a  retired  far- 
mer, and  now  a  resident  of  Assumption;  William 
is  a  prosperous  agriculturist  of  this  township,  as  is 
also  Joseph  R.,  the  only  other  survivor.  The  fa- 
ther was  born  March  12, 1810,  at  Levin,  Yorkshire, 
England,  where  he  continued  to  reside  until  his 
marriage,  which  occurred  February  27,  1833.  In 
June,  1834,  the  young  couple  set  sail  for  America 
and  landed  in  Quebec,  Canada,  where  they  spent 
the  winter.  In  May  of  the  following  year  they 
removed  to  Indiana  and  settled  on  a  farm  three 
miles  northeast  of  Terre  Haute,  where  they  made 
their  home  for  four  years.  At  the  end  of  that 
time  they  came  to  this  county  and  made  a  settle- 
ment on  section  4,  May  Township,  north  of  Flat 
Branch.  Their  location  was  on  the  open  prairie, 
half  a  mile  from  the  timber.  At  that  time  all  the 
settlements  had  been  made  along  the  timber-land, 
and  they  were  the  only  ones  who  had  yet  ventured 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


255 


out  on  the  prairie,  which  people  in  those  days  lit- 
tle expected  could  be  developed  into  good  farms. 
lu  1844,  the  family  removed  to  the  places  where 
our  subject  now  resides  and  built  a  log  house.  To 
the  eastward  the  prairie  stretched  for  eighteen 
miles  without  a  single  house  or  improvement  of 
any  kind.  Though  they  were  much  annoyed  by 
the  depredations  of  wolves  and  had  much  sickness, 
they  remained  on  this  tract  of  land  and  improved 
a  farm  of  three  hundred  and  eighty  acres.  Mr. 
Bugg  was  called  from  this  life  May  10,  1865,  and 
was  laid  to  rest  in  the  Harris  Cemetery  in  May 
Township.  He  was  an  active  man  and  numbered 
many  friends  in  the  county.  Religiously,  he  held 
membership  with  the  Methodist  Church.  His  wife 
was  born  in  Yorkshire,  England,  August  10,  1812, 
to  Simon  and  Jane  (Butledge)  Peck.  Her  death 
occurred  October  28,  1882,  at  Terre  Haute,  Ind., 
where  she  was  visiting.  She  had  for  many  years 
previously  made  her  home  with  our  subject. 

Edward  Bugg,  whose  name  heads  this  sketch, 
resided  at  his  birthplace  on  the  same  farm  he  now 
cultivates  until  he  was  of  age.  His  education  was 
such  as  was  afforded  by  the  country  schools  of 
those  days.  On  reaching  man's  estate  he  rented  a 
part  of  the  home  farm  for  a  number  of  years,  and 
on  the  10th  of  February,  1874,  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Miss  Christina  Bailey.  She  was  born 
in  Oneida  County,  N.  Y.,  March  7,  1841,  and  was 
a  daughter  of  M.  S.  and  Lydia  (Taylor)  Bailey. 
The  former  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  who  re- 
moved with  his  parents  to  Oneida  County,  N.  Y., 
when  a  small  boy.  There  occurred  his  marriage, 
and  in  that  county  he  resided  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  when  he  had  reached  an  advanced 
age.  He  was  of  English  descent,  and  was  one  of 
the  early  settlers  of  Oneida  County.  His  father 
participated  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution.  The 
mother  of  Mrs.  Bugg  was  born  in  Steuben  County, 
N.  Y.,  where  she  is  still  living,  now  well  advanced 
in  life.  Her  father  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  and 
came  to  America  in  his  boyhood. 

Three  children  have  blessed  the  union  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Bugg,  but  two  died  in  infancy.  Gracic 
Fidelia,  who  lives  at  home,  is  an  accomplished  musi- 
cian and  has  received  a  superior  education.  Though 
not  a  member  of  any  church,  Mr.  Bugg  contrib- 


utes to  their  support,  especially  to  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  of  which  his  wife  is  a  member.  In 
politics,  he  uses  his  influence  in  behalf  of  the  Re- 
publican party.  His  farm  now  numbers  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  acres,  which  are  fertile  and  well  cul- 
tivated. It  is  a  desirable  piece  of  property  and 
bears  little  resemblance  to  the  wild  prairie  which 
it  was  at  the  time  of  his  father's  location  upon  it. 


JOHN  LEWIS  TURNER,  a  carpenter  and 
manufacturer,  ranks  high  in  the  business  cir- 
cles of  this  communit_y  and  well  deserves 
mention  in  the  history  of  Christian  County 
for  the  prominent  part  he  has  taken  in  all  the  public 
affairs  that  tend  to  benefit  and  upbuild  the  com- 
munity. The  record  of  his  life  is  as  follows:  A 
native  of  Indiana,  he  was  born  in  Greene  County 
on  the  2d  of  September,  1844.  He  is  of  P^nglish 
and  Scotch  descent,  the  paternal  grandfather  hav- 
ing been  a  native  of  England,  who  died  in  Ten- 
nessee. He  is  also  descended  from  one  of  the 
Revolutionary  heroes,  his  maternal  grandfather, 
Benjamin  Phillips,  a  native  of  Scotland,  having 
served  as  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  Independence. 
He  lived  to  quite  an  advanced  age,  and  died  in 
Greene  County,  Ind. 

The  parents  of  our  subject,  Archelaus  and  Susan 
(Phillips)  Turner,  were  both  natives  of  Tennessee. 
The  father  was  a  farmer  and  mechanic.  His  death 
occurred  in  1846,  of  brain  fever,  in  Greene  County, 
Ind.,  but  his  wife  lived  until  the  3d  of  April,  1883, 
surviving  her  husband  about  thirty-seven  years, 
and  died  at  the  home  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
They  were  both  members  of  the  Cumberland  Pres- 
byterian Church  and  were  highly  respected  peo- 
ple. Their  family  numbered  ten  children,  five 
sons  and  five  daughters,  of  whom  seven  grew  to 
mature  years.  Nancy  is  now  the  widow  of  William 
Anderson;  Delphia,  who  is  the  second  in  order 
of  birth,  lives  with  her  brother  Thomas;  William 
is  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  residing  at  Lincoln  and 
is  the  father  of  President  Turner  of  Lincoln  Uni- 


256 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


versity;  Jane  is  the  wife  of  Rev.  R.  J.  P.  Lemmoii, 
of  Benton  County,  Ark.;  James  Riley  died  at 
Owaneeo,  this  county,  June  21,  1893;  Thomas  J. 
makes  his  home  in  Taylorville;  and  John  L.  is  our 
subject.  Those  who  died  in  early  childhood  were. 
Elizabeth,  Benjamin  and  an  infant. 

John  L.  Turner,  whose  name  heads  this  record, 
was  only  two  years  old  when  his  father  died,  and 
when  he  was  a  lad  of  ten  summers  his  mother  re- 
moved with  the  family  from  Indiana  to  Shelby 
County,  111.  This  was  in  1854.  There  he  was 
reared  to  manhood  upon  a  farm,  remaining  with 
his  mother  until  he  had  attained  his  majority. 
His  education  was  acquired  in  the  district  schools 
of  the  neighborhood,  and  no  event  of  special  im- 
portance occurred  during  his  boyhood  and  youth. 
After  arriving  at  man's  estate  he  was  united  in 
marriage,  on  the  llth  of  April,  1867,  with  Miss 
Lizzie,  a  daughter  of  William  and  Mary  Haskins, 
of  Dubois  County,  Ind.  Foui'children  have  been 
born  of  their  union:  Benjamin  Archelaus,  John 
Ellis,  William  Ezra  and  Docia  Mae.  The  eldest 
son  married  Miss  Lydia  B.  Sweigert,  and  resides 
in  Edinburgh,  111.,  and  is  cashier  of  the  banking 
house  of  George  P.  Harrington.  One  child  graces 
their  union,  Homer  A. 

In  the  winter  of  1865-66,  Mr.  Turner  removed 
to  Christian  County  and  located  in  Taylorville, 
where  lie  has  since  made  his  home.  For  the  first 
ten  years  after  his  arrival  he  engaged  in  carpen- 
tering, which  he  then  abandoned  to  enter  upon 
the  manufacture  of  brick  and  tile.  This  business 
he  followed  for  a  number  of  years.  He  made  the 
first  drain  tile  in  this  section  of  the  country,  and 
that  branch  of  his  business  was  his  specialty.  Al- 
though he  began  on  a  small  scale,  the  demand  for 
his  product  constantly  increased,  and  in  conse- 
quence his  facilities  were  enlarged.  This  is  one 
of  the  leading  industries  of  the  community,  and 
adds  greatly  to  the  prosperity  of  Taylorville  and 
surrounding  community,  as  it  furnishes  employ- 
ment to  a  number  of  men  and  insures  good  crops 
on  lands  that  are  well  tiled. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Turner  and  their  children  are 
members  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church, 
in  which  he  serves  as  Deacon.  In  politics,  he  is  a 
supporter  of  the  Republican  party.  Mr.  Turner 


has  had  a  successful  career,  which  is  due  entirely  to 
his  own  business  ability  and  sagacity,  combined 
with  well-directed  energies  and  persistent  effort. 
His  prosperity,  therefore,  is  well  merited,  and  he 
may  truly  be  called  a  self-made  man.  He  owns 
a  good  home  and  other  city  property,  and,  having 
disposed  of  his  manufacturing  business,  he  and  his 
good  wife  are  at  this  lime  living  rather  retired, 
devoting  themselves  to  the  education  of  their 
children,  trying  to  prepare  them  for  useful  lives. 


EPHRAIM  BOLLINGER  was  for  long  years 
one  of  the  highly  respected  and  truly 
worthy  citizens  of  Stonington  Township. 
The  whole  community  was  deeply  shocked  on 
learning  of  his  death,  which  occurred  in  March, 
1893.  While  attempting  to  cross  the  railroad 
track  to  look  after  some  business  near  the  crossing 
by  the  Stonington  Station,  he  was  run  down  and 
instantly  killed  by  the  train.  He  was  laid  to  rest 
in  Grove  City  Cemetery. 

The  birth  of  Mr.  Bellinger  occurred  in  Balti- 
more County,  Md.,  October  24,  1832,  and  he  grew 
to  manhood  near  his  birthplace.  He  was  of  German 
descent,  though  his  father  and  mother  were  born 
and  reared  in  Baltimore  County.  The  family  re- 
moved to  Christian  County,  111.,  in  1869.  Our 
subject  worked  at  his  trade  of  a  millwright  until 
the  commencement  of  the  late  Civil  War.  For 
three  years  during  that  struggle  he  was  employed 
as  a  teamster  in  and  near  Baltimore.  After  his 
arrival  in  Illinois,  he  gave  his  whole  time  and 
energy  to  farming.  When  he  started  out  to  fight 
life's  battles,  he  had  his  own  way  to  make  from 
the  first,  and  even  at  the  time  of  his  marriage  he 
was  only  in  moderate  circumstances.  He  was  the 
eldest  of  thirteen  children,  eight  of  whom  were 
sons. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Bellinger  occurred  in  Bal- 
timore County,  Md.,  his  wife  being  Miss  Mary 
Ann  Street,  who  was  born  in  that  county  August 


POKTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


257 


23,  1832.  They  have  become  the  parents  of  eight 
children:  Oliver,  who  is  now  deceased,  and  James 
M.,  deceased,  both  of  whom  were  buried  in  Balti- 
more County;  Mary  E.,  who  died  in  Christian 
County,  and  lies  buried  in  Grove  City  Cemetery; 
Henry  C.,  John  T.,  William  E.,  Daniel  S.  and 
Samuel  W.,  who  arc  respected  citizens  of  this 
count}'.  Henry  C.  married  Miss  Keziah  Coffee, 
who  was  born  and  educated  in  this  county.  They 
are  residents  of  Stonington  Township.  John  T. 
married  Miss  Caroline  Cooner,  of  this  county,  and 
lives  near  the  old  homestead.  The  three  younger 
brothers  are  at  home  with  their  mother  and  lend 
their  dutiful  assistance  in  carrying  on  the  home- 
stead. The  farm  is  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres 
in  extent,  located  on  section  14,  and  has  good 
improvements  upon  it. 

In  his  political  faith  Mr.  Bellinger  was  a  Repub- 
lican and  was  a  worthy  example  of  the  agricult- 
ural class.  He  bore  a  high  reputation  for  integrity 
of  purpose  and  justice  in  the  various  walks  of  life. 
Both  himself  and  wife  for  many  years  held  mem- 
bership with  the  German  Reformed  Church,  to 
which  the  latter  still  belongs. 


J^j&  UGUST  CAZALET,  a  retired  merchant  of 
(JJyLJj  Assumption,  was  born  in  France  on 
Ipfc  Christmas  Day  of  1828.  He  spent  his 
^gj  youth  and  grew  to  manhood  in  his  native 
country,  where  he  received  fair  school  privileges. 
He  then  served  an  apprenticeship  at  the  stone  ma- 
son's trade,  which  he  followed  for  some  years,  af- 
ter which  he  engaged  in  contracting  and  building 
for  a  few  years. 

Ere  leaving  the  land  of  his  birth,  Mr.  Cazalet 
was  married  to  Miss  Julia  Galliac,  a  most  estimable 
young  lady.  Their  union  was  celebrated  in  1853, 
and  for  five  years  they  continued  in  France,  our 
subject  being  engaged  in  contracting  and  building 
from  that  time  until  1858,  when  with  his  wife  he 
emigrated  to  the  New  World,  taking  passage  from 
Havre  on  a  Westward-bound  sailing-vessel,  which 


at  length  dropped  anchor  in  the  harbor  of  New 
York,  in  the  month  of  December,  and  the  young 
couple  found  themselves  in  the  New  World. 

Mr.  Cazalet  at  once  came  to  Illinois,  and  made 
a  location  in  Ottawa,  La  Salle  County,  where  he 
established  a  stoneyard  and  engaged  in  contract- 
ing and  building  for  three  years.  On  the  expira- 
tion of  that  period,  in  1862,  he  removed  to  El 
Paso,  Woodford  County,  where  he  engaged  in 
merchandising  in  connection  with  his  brother,  un- 
der the  firm  name  of  Cazalet  Bros.  They  con- 
tinued in  the  dry-goods  business  at  that  place,  en- 
joying a  good  trade,  until  1865,  when  our  subject 
sold  out  his  interest  and  came  to  Assumption. 
Here  he  built  a  storeroom  and  embarked  in  gen- 
eral merchandising.  For  about  fifteen  years  he 
was  actively  engaged  in  business  and  then  sold 
out.  During  that  time  he  purchased  land  at  vari- 
ous intervals  and  opened  up  several  farms.  Since 
disposing  of  his  mercantile  interests,  he  has  pur- 
chased more  land  from  time  to  time  and  now  owns 
ten  farms,  one  in  Shelby  County  and  the  others  in 
Christian  County.  His  landed  possessions  aggre- 
gate about  one  thousand  acres,  the  greater  part  of 
which  is  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation  and 
well  improved.  These  properties  yield  to  the 
owner  a  good  income.  Mr.  Cazalet  has  also  done 
much  toward  improving  the  town  of  Assumption, 
and  has  built  fourteen  business  houses  in  the  place, 
five  of  them  being  good  brick  structures.  He  has 
also  built  two  residences.  In  1881  he  engaged  in 
the  grain  and  lumber  business,  and  was  actively 
connected  with  that  industry  for  ten  years. 

Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cazalet  have  been  born  two 
children.  Leona  is  the  wife  of  Joseph  H.  Staple- 
ton,  a  prominent  grain-dealer  and  business  man  of 
Assumption;  and  Leon  is  a  leading  farmer,  who  is 
connected  with  his  father  as  a  dealer  in  fine  im- 
ported horses. 

In  1887  Mr.  Cazalet  made  a  trip  to  France  and 
visited  his  boyhood  friends  and  the  scenes  of  his 
youth,  spending  about  three  months  in  his  na- 
tive land.  While  on  the  way  he  made  a  purchase 
of  a  number  of  Percheron  and  French  Coach 
horses.  The  following  year  he  again  crossed  the 
Atlantic  to  purchase  more  horses,  and  he  and  his 
son  have  since  been  engaged  in  importing  and 


258 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


dealing  in  Hue  stock.  In  1892  he  made  a  third 
trip,  spending  about  three  months.  Since  his  resi- 
dence here,  Mr.  Cazalet  has  been  one  of  the  most 
active,  enterprising  and  successful  business  men, 
and  probably  has  done  more  for  the  upbuilding 
of  Assumption  than  any  other  of  her  citizens.  His 
aid  is  never  solicited  in  vain  for  the  promotion  of 
worthy  enterprises,  and  his  support  and  co-opera- 
tion are  heartily  given  for  the  benefit  all  public 
improvement. 


?ILLIAM  D.  COFFMAN,  who  owns  and 
operates  a  good  farm  on  section  20,  Ma}' 
Township,  is  cue  of  the  early  settlers  of 
Christian  County,  to  which  he  came  when  only 
five  years  of  age,  in  1 850.  He  has  the  esteem  and 
respect  of  all  who  know  him,  and  his  word  is  con- 
sidered as  good  as  his  bond. 

The  birth  of  our  subject  occurred  on  the  9th  of 
July,  1845,  in  Ohio  County,  Va.,  and  he  is  a  son 
of  James  D.  and  Margaret  (Settle)  Coffman.  The 
former  was  born  in  Virginia,  and  in  his  youth 
learned  the  blacksmith's  trade.  This  avocation  he 
pursued  until  1850,  when  he  emigrated  to  the 
West  and  made  a  settlement  in  this  county.  He 
became  the  owner  of  land  on  the  same  section 
where  our  subject  now  resides,  and  devoted  him- 
self to  its  improvement  and  cultivation  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  November  1,  1885.  He 
was  of  German  descent,  and  was  much  respected 
by  the  early  settlers  as  well  as  by  the  later  arrivals 
in  this  region.  His  wife  was  also  a  native  of  the 
Old  Dominion,  born  in  Lancaster  County.  She 
came  from  one  of  the  old  families  of  Virginia,  her 
ancestors  having  settled  there  in  Colonial  days  on 
coming  from  their  native  land,  England.  A  num- 
ber of  the  family  participated  in  the  War  of  the 
Revolution.  Mrs.  Coffman  was  called  from  this 
life  in  Christian  County,  July  9,  1872. 

In  the  family  of  five  children  our  subject  is 
the  eldest.  Two  of  the  number  are  deceased. 
Josephine  became  the  wife  of  Leonard  F.  Peak,  a 


well-known  agriculturist  of  this  county;  and  Sarah 
married  Isaac  Corzine,  who  also  owns  a  farm  in 
this  county.  The  parents  removed  here  in  1850, 
and  reared  their  children  to  lives  of  usefulness. 
Until  his  twentieth  year  our  subject  remained  on 
the  home  farm,  attending  the  common  schools  of 
the  neighborhood.  In  1865,  he  went  to  Peoria,  and 
there  pursued  his  studies  for  about  one  year.  Re- 
turning, lie  worked  for  his  father  on  the  farm  for 
the  two  succeeding  years,  after  which  he  rented 
land,  which  he  engaged  in  cultivating  for  himself. 
His  father  then  gave  him  the  use  of  forty  acres  of 
land,  which  had  been  little  improved  and  only  had 
a  small  log  house  upon  it.  With  undaunted  en- 
j  ergy  he  began  to  clear  the  place,  which  was  cov- 
I  ered  with  brush  and  stumps.  For  nine  years  he 
kept  house  for  himself,  most  of  the  time  in  his 
little  cabin,  and  brought  the  land  into  good 
shape. 

The  maniage  of  Mr.  Coffman  was  celebrated 
January  19,  1881,  with  Miss  Lillian  II.  Fraley, 
who  was  born  December  17,  1857,  in  Christian 
County.  She  is  a  daughter  of  John  S.  and  Sarah 
J.  (Wiley)  Fraley.  The  father  was  a  native  of 
Ohio,  and  became  a  resident  of  this  county  in 
1847,  being  one  of  the  honored  pioneers.  He 
was  prominent  in  those  early  days  and  was  widely 
known,  as  he  lived  on  the  old  Terns  Haute  and 
Springfield  stage  road,  and  a  great  many  travelers 
were  hospitably  entertained  at  his  home  in  those 
days.  He  was  of  German  descent,  and  died  on 
the  1st  of  March,  1888.  His  wife,  who  was  also 
born  iu  Ohio,  died  in  April,  1869.  Five  chil- 
dren blessed  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Coffman, 
namely:  Mabel  E.,  Minnie,  Roy,  Mary,  and  one 
who  died  in  infancy. 

In  regard  to  the  question  of  politics,  Mr.  Coff- 
man is  a  Prohibitionist  and  is  a  strong  temper- 
ance man.  He  holds  membership  with  the  United 
Brethren  Church,  while  Mrs.  Coffman  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  denomination.  Our  subject 
has  been  at  various  times  called  upon  to  fill  town- 
ship offices,  which  he  has  filled  acceptably,  but  still 
prefers  to  give  his  time  and  attention  to  his  busi- 
ness interests.  He  served  for  nine  years  success- 
ively in  the  capacity  of  Township  Clerk,  at  the 
end  of  which  time  he  declined  being  re-nomina- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


259 


ted.  lie  is  giving  his  children  good  educational 
advantages  and  is  a  strong  supporter  of  the  most 
advanced  educational  methods.  For  fourteen 
years  he  has  been  School  Treasurer  of  the  town- 
ship, and  has  used  his  influence  in  the  erection  of 
many  schoolhouses. 

The  well-improved  farm  of  Mr.  Coffman  now 
contains  within  its  limits  two  hundred  and  sixty- 
five  acres,  which  are  all  under  cultivation  and  have 
many  substantial  improvements  upon  them.  Our 
subject  is  well  informed  on  general  topics  and  is 
especially  posted  on  all  matters  pertaining  to  ag- 
ricultural pursuits.  He  takes  a  number  of  leading 
farm  journals,  and  keeps  fully  abreast  with  the 
times,  though  still  standing  by  the  old  and  tried 
methods.  He  has  the  respect  of  all  who  know  him, 
for  he  is  a  man  of  unblemished  reputation  and 
sterling  integrity. 


•^7-"»lIOMAS  BRADLEY  is  one  of  the  early  set- 
f/^\  tiers  of  Christian  County,  and  during  the 
V.L/  late  war  saw  much  active  service  in  the 
Union  army.  His  birth  occurred  in  Hard  in  Coun- 
ty, Ky.,  September  23,  1823.  His  parents  were 
William  and  Elizabeth  (Crowder)  Bradley,  who 
were  natives  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  re- 
spectively. They  were  the  parents  of  fourteen 
children,  seven  sons  and  seven  daughters. 

Thomas  Bradley  is  the  seventh  child  in  his  fa- 
ther's family,  and  with  his  parents  removed  from 
Kentucky  to  Sangamon  County,  111.,  in  1832.  He 
received  his  education  in  this  State,  remaining 
under  the  parental  roof  until  reaching  his  major- 
ity. For  one  year  he  engaged  in  driving  a  stage 
from  Springfield  to  Vandalia.  In  1850  he  em- 
barked in  his  life  occupation  of  farming  and 
stock-raising,  but  in  1859  worked  for  a  short  time 
at  the  furniture  business. 

On  the  20th  of  May,  1845,  our  subject  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Martha  Morris.  She 
is  a  daughter  of  Achilles  Morris,  and  was  born  and 
reared  to  womanhood  in  Macon  County.  By  this 


marriage  three  children  have  been  born:  G.  W.,  a 
resident  of  Pana,  111.,  and  an  engineer  by  occupa- 
tion; Mary  Ann,  wife  of  J.  W.  Handel,  of  Owan- 
eco,  111.;  and  Lunetta  Lora,  wife  of  M.  Danford,  of 
Locust  Township,  who  has  retired  from  active 
business. 

In  1844  Mr.  Bradley  located  in  Christian 
County,  and  two  years  later  purchased  seventy 
acres  of  land,  for  which  he  paid  $1  per  acre,  and  on 
which  he  made  a  settlement.  He  continued  run- 
ning a  stage  from  Decatur  to  Springfield  for  two 
years.  He  enlisted  in  Company  A,  Tenth  Illinois 
Cavalry,  in  September,  1861,  and  was  sent  to  St. 
Louis  and  fiom  there  proceeded  to  Springfield, 
Mo.,  where  he  was  stationed  for  a  time.  He  was 
next  sent  on  an  expedition  with  Gen.  Curtis,  after 
which  he  remained  in  Helena,  Ark.,  until  the 
spring  of  1863.  He  served  in  the  bodyguard  of 
Gen.  Fisk  at  the  time  he  was  at  the  head  of  the 
Yazoo  siege,  near  Vicksburg.  After  taking  Ft. 
Pemberton  he  returned  to  Yazoo,  thence  went  to 
Helena  and  from  there  to  Vicksburg  and  Milli- 
kin's  Bend,  remaining  on  duty  until  June  6, 1863, 
when  twenty-three  of  the  number  were  captured 
by  the  enemy.  He  was  held  as  a  prisoner  until 
October  1  of  that  year,  when  he  was  paroled  and 
sent  to  St.  Louis.  He  rejoined  his  regiment  at  Lit- 
tle Rock,  Ark.,  and  acted  as  a  scout  in  Mississippi 
and  Louisiana.  He  was  sent  to  New  Orleans  just 
before  the  assassination  of  President  Lincoln.  A 
gunboat  undertook  to  run  the  blockade,  and  Mr. 
Bradley  assisted  in  its  capture.  During  the  en- 
gagement large  quantities  of  cotton  were  set  on 
fire,  and  eight  men  were  taken  prisoners.  Our  sub- 
ject was  next  sent  to  Mobile  on  the  ship  "Tilla." 
and  landed  a  few  days  before  Taylor  surrendered. 
After  ten  days  spent  at  that  place  he  went  to 
Baton  Rouge  under  Gen.  Bailey.  He  took  part  in 
the  Red  River  expedition,  and  finally  arrived  in 
San  Antonio,  Tex.,  where  he  staid  until  September, 
1865.  He  was  mustered  out  at  San  Antonio,  and, 
returning  to  Springfield,  received  an  honorable 
discharge  January  8,  1866. 

On  his  return  from  his  valiant  service  in  the 
South,  Mr.  Bradley  again  engaged  in  farming,  and 
has  since  given  his  attention  to  the  cultivation  of 
his  place.  His  wife  died  in  1876  and  was  buried 


260 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


in  Doner  Cemetery,  two  miles  west  of  the  old 
homestead.  In  June,  1878,  Mr.  Bradley  married 
Mrs.  Mary  E.  Phelps,  of  Bear  Grove,  Gutbrie 
County,  Iowa.  She  was  born  and  grew  to  woman- 
hood in  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio,  ajid  is  of 
English  descent.  Our  subject  and  his  wife  are 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  In 
politics  Mr.  Bradley  is  a  champion  of  the  Repub- 
lican party. 


R.  BENJAMIN  F.  OWEN  was  a  native  of 
Kentucky,  having  been  born  in  that  State 
May  20,  1835,  and  was  reared  on  a  farm. 
His  parents  were  natives  of  the  Old  Do- 
minion, having  emigrated  from  Virginia  in  an  early 
day  to  Kentucky.  His  mother  dying  when  he  was 
quite  young,  our  subject  left  home  and  began  life 
for  himself.  He  first  engaged  in  carpentering  and 
in  such  work  as  pertained  to  outdoor  construction 
labor;  afterward  he  worked  at  cabinet-making,  but 
having  a  desire  for  the  study  of  medicine  and 
surgery,  he  subjected  himself  to  the  most  rigid 
economy  until  he  bad  saved  money  from  his  bard 
earnings  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  attend  the 
University  of  Medicine  at  Louisville,  Ky.  He  was 
graduated  with  honors  from  that  institution  March 
1,  1860. 

On  commencing  bis  professional  career,  Dr. 
Owen  at  once  became  associated  in  partnership 
with  Dr.  Yarndell,  one  of  the  professors  of  the 
university.  Beginning  his  practice  of  medicine  in 
Louisville,  he  continued  there  for  six  years,  hav- 
ing all  the  advantages  arising  from  the  general 
work  of  the  dispensary  practice,  of  which  Dr. 
Yarndell  had  charge.  The  manner  of  Dr.  Owen's 
coming  to  Illinois  was  somewhat  curious,  and 
it  was  most  certainly  providential  for  many 
whose  lives  he  saved.  Prof.  Yarndell  had  been 
sent  for  to  visit  Mrs.  Robert  Davis,  of  Hillsboro, 
Montgomery  County,  111.  She  was  of  a  very 
wealthy  and  prominent  family,  and  bad  been  suf 
fering  from  a  chronic  disease  for  several  years,  a 
disease  which  had  baffled  the  skill  of  physicians 


far  and  near.  She  had  been  to  New  York  City 
and  other  places,  but  had  found  no  one  who  could 
cure  her.  Prof.  Yarndell,  relying  on  the  ability 
of  Dr.  Owen,  sent  him  in  bis  place.  So  great  was 
the  confidence  of  the  husband  in  Dr.  Owen,  that 
he  offered  to  give  him  $1,000  if  be  would  stay  until 
she  was  either  better  or  worse.  Though  our  subject 
and  his  partner  had  made  all  arrangements  to  en- 
ter the  Southern  army  as  surgeons,  having  even 
purchased  their  surgical  instruments,  Dr.  Owen 
consented  to  remain,  and  after  two  weeks  the  lady 
was  able  to  walk  to  the  dinner  table,  and  the 
treatment  resulted  in  her  complete  restoration  to 
health.  The  husband  gladly  paid  the  $1,000,  and 
the  Doctor  returned  to  Louisville,  expecting  to 
enter  the  army,  as  Prof.  Yarndell  had  already 
gone  and  had  written  him  to  follow.  Petitions 
had  been  circulated  among  the  citizens  of  Hills- 
boro to  have  Dr.  Owen  remain  among  them,  but 
he  felt  bound  by  his  agreement  and  partnership. 
On  reaching  Louisville  he  found  that  be  could 
not  get  through  the  lines,  and  be  therefore  at  once 
returned  to  Hillsboro. 

The  Doctor  continued  his  practice  for  some 
time  alone  in  Hillsboro,  having  his  office  there,  and 
then  formed  a  partnership  .with  Dr.F.  M.  Stratton, 
who  had  his  office  at  Litcbfield.  At  the  time  of 
the  gold  excitement  in  Montana,  both  parties  were 
influenced  to  enter  the  list  as  gold-hunters.  While 
on  the  way,  Dr.  Stratton  was  severely  bitten  by  a 
bear,  which  disabled  him  so  that  be  could  not 
walk.  This  made  a  double  burden  for  our  subject, 
but,  nothing  daunted,  he  nursed  his  partner  and 
kept  up  the  journey  until  Dr.  Stratton  recovered. 

After  returning  from  the  West,  our  subject 
found  what  gold  cannot  buy,  an  estimable  and 
congenial  helpmate  and  wife.  Meeting  first 
on  the  cars  they  were  attracted  to  each  other, 
and  not  long  afterward  the  lady,  who  was  well 
and  favorably  known  as  Miss  AddieDunn,  became 
the  happy  wife  of  our  subject.  The  wedding 
ceremony  was  celebrated  on  the  27th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1870.  Five  children  were  born  of  their  union: 
Delia,  on  November  14,  1874;  Laila,  February  14, 
1877;  Fairy,  October  16,  1878;  Browder  Gail, 
March  25,  1883;  and  Benjamin  F.,  February  5, 
1888. 


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PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


265 


After  an  illness  of  only  three  days  Dr.  Owen 
passed  from  this  weary  life  unto  the  care  of  the 
Great  Physician,  who  had  healed  his  soul  from  the 
malady  and  sting  of  sin,  and  who  now  called  him 
to  rest.  His  work  was  well  done,  and  he  could 
gladly  answer  the  call.  He  died  on  the  24th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1888,  in  Morrisonville.  Some  years  before, 
his  health  had  failed,  and  he  was  compelled  to  quit 
practicing  for  two  years.  Had  it  not  been  for  the 
skillful  attention  and  sympathetic  helpfulness  of 
his  faithful  wife,  who  was  at  once  physician,  nurse 
and  companion  to  him  while  traveling  in  search 
of  health,  he  would  not  have  recovered,  but  hav- 
ing fully  regained  his  health  he  returned  to 
Litchfield,  thence  went  to  Illiopolis,  and  finally 
to  Morrisonville.  Few  physicians  find  such  sweet 
fellowship  in  Christ  and  Christian  work  as  did 
Dr.  Owen,  whose  faithfulness  and  knowledge  of 
the  Scriptures  caused  him  to  be  chosen  as  an  Elder 
in  the  Church  of  Christ  at  Litchfield,  where  he 
labored;  and  the  genial  nature  and  spiritual  cul- 
ture of  his  wife  caused  her  to  be  chosen  the 
teacher  for  the  advanced  class  in  the  Sunday- 
school.  Their  home  was  the  preacher's  home,  and 
the  generosity  they  displayed  will  be  richly  re- 
warded in  the  future  as  surely  as  it  has  devel- 
oped such  beautiful  characters  in  this  life. 


J^pf1  LLEN  CORZINE  is  one  of  the  extensive 
IsO  land-owners  and  wealthy  agriculturists  of 
I  Is  Christian  County.  His  broad  and  fertile 
@j  acres  lie  on  sections  11  and  13,  May  and 
Stonington  Townships,  respectively.  Our  subject 
was  born  November  27,  1854,  in  Guernsey  Coun- 
ty, Ohio,  and  he  is  a  son  of  Allen  and  Mary 
Ann  (Warren)  Corzine.  The  father  was  born  in 
1816,  in  Pennsylvania,  and  settled  in  Guernsey 
County,  Ohio,  in  boyhood.  He  continued  to  re- 
side in  the  Buckeye  State  until  1868,  when  he 
made  a  settlement  in  Christian  County,  and  be- 
came the  owner  of  a  farm.  He  is  now  retired 
from  active  care  and  is  a  resident  of  Assumption, 
12 


111.  His  grandfather  came  from  Holland  to  Amer- 
ica when  a  young  man,  and  at  one  time  owned 
sixty  acres  of  land  where  Wall  Street  in  New 
York  City  is  now  located. 

Our  subject's  mother  was  born  in  1819,  and  is 
still  living  in  this  county.  Her  grandfather  was 
an  officer  in  the  War  of  1812.  Mrs.  Corzine  reared 
a  family  of  nine  children,  the  eldestof  whom,  Jon- 
athan, is  engaged  in  farming  near  Hendricks,  Neb.; 
Martha  Ann  is  the  wife  of  S.  D.  Moore,  of  As- 
sumption; Lavina  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine 
years;  Rebecca  became  the  wife  of  David  Ridge, 
a  farmer  of  this  county;  Allen  is  the  subject  of 
this  notice;  Warren  is  engaged  in  the  lumber  bus- 
iness in  Stonington;  Benton  is  a  well-to-do  farmer 
of  this  county;  and  the  twin  brothers,  Jacob  and 
Isaac,  are  also  prosperous  farmers  of  Christian 
County. 

Living  with  his  parents  on  the  homestead  farm 
until  seventeen  years  of  age,  Allen  Corzine  then 
concluded  to  make  his  own  livelihood.  For  a 
year  he  worked  for  neighboring  farmers,  after 
which  he  went  to  Chicago  and  there  drove  an  ex- 
press wagon  for  six  months.  Returning  to  this 
county,  he  worked  on  a  farm  for  two  years,  care- 
fully husbanding  his  resources  during  all  this 
time.  Subsequently  for  several  years  he  rented 
land,  and  then  became  the  owner  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres,  which  has  since  been  his  home 
and  which  was  the  beginning  of  his  landed  pos- 
sessions. 

On  the  12th  of  March,  1879,  our  subject  and 
Miss  Janet  A.  Burdick  were  united  in  marriage. 
Mrs.  Corzine  was  born  October  13,  1860,  in  May 
Township,  and  is  the  second  child  of  Benjamin  M. 
and  Rebecca  (Boyd)  Burdick.  Of  her  four  broth- 
ers and  sisters,  only  one  is  now  living,  Minerva 
E.,  wife  of  Warren  Corzine,  of  Stonington.  Her 
father  was  born  in  Connecticut  in  1824,  and  after 
obtaining  a  good  education  engaged  in  teaching 
school  in  his  native  State  until  some  time  in  the 
'40s,  when  he  came  to  Christian  County,  and  for 
a  number  of  years  engaged  in  teaching  during  the 
winter  months  and  farming  the  remainder  of  the 
year.  lie  was  of  Irish  descent  and  lived  to  be 
fifty-five  years  of  age.  His  wife,  who  was  born  in 
Kentucky,  came  to  this  county  with  her  parents 


266 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


when  she  was  only  two  years  old.     Her  death  oc- 
curred in  1879. 

The  pleasant  home  of  our  subject  and  wife  is 
graced  by  the  presence  of  two  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters: Roy  Allen,  Bertha  May,  Clarence  Glenn  and 
Gracie  Adelaide.  The  parents  are  consistent  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  Church.  In  regard  to  the 
question  of  polities,  our  subject  is  on  the  side  of 
the  Prohibition  party.  For  six  years  he  has  been 
one  of  the  School  Directors  in  his  district  and  has 
been  Road  Commissioner  in  the  township.  During 
the  passing  years  he  has  added  extensively  to  his 
farm,  which  now  comprises  five  hundred  and  forty 
acres  within  its  boundaries.  This  is  one  of  the 
choicest  pieces  of  farm  property  in  May  Township, 
and  with  the  exception  of  one  hundred  and  thirty 
acres  that  his  wife  inherited  from  her  father's  es- 
tate, it  is  the  result  of  his  years  of  honest  effort 
and  industry.  He  is  one  of  the  most  upright  and 
honorable  of  men,  and  well  merits  the  high  esteem 
and  kindly  regard  in  which  he  is  held  by  his 
friends  and  neighbors. 


,j|r«^  AMUEL   M.   PEABODY.      Few   men   are 

^&    better  known  in  this  section  than  he  whose 

VVL,j|  history  we  will  now  proceed  to  trace.     He 

is  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  in  Stoning- 

ton  Township,  and  has  here  spent  the  greater  part 

of  his  life.     His  farm  is  located  on  section  35  and 

is  one  of  the   best-conducted  and  best-equipped 

places  of  the  neighborhood. 

The  youngest  in  a  family  of  ten  children,  Mr. 
Peabody  was  born  January  21,  1820,  in  North 
Stonington,  Conn.  His  parents  were  Samuel  and 
Lucy  (Bread)  Peabody.  The  father  was  born  in 
the  same  place  in  1774  and  was  reared  on  a  farm 
in  Connecticut.  Our  subject  relates  that  he  can 
remember  his  father's  telling  about  the  battle 
of  Stonington  Point,  during  the  Revolutionary 
War,  in  which  he  was  a  participant.  Samuel  Pea- 
body,  Sr.,  was  married  in  his  native  State,  where  he 


remained  until  1839.  At  that  time  he  came  with 
his  family  to  Christian  County.  At  the  same  time 
about  fifteen  other  families  emigrated  from  Con- 
necticut and  settled  near  one  another  in  this  coun- 
ty, forming  what  was  called  the  Stonington  Col- 
ony. Our  subject's  father,  who  was  a  Deacon  in  the 
Baptist  Church,  was  of  English  descent.  His  great- 
grandmother,  Elizabeth  Starr,  was  the  first  female 
child  born  in  New  England.  He  passed  away  when 
seventy-eight  years  of  age.  His  wife  was  born  in 
1776  and  died  in  1842,  a  short  time  after  coming 
to  this  county.  She  was  the  first  person  buried  in 
the  old  Stonington  Cemetery,  and  by  her  side  now 
reposes  the  earthly  remains  of  her  husband  and 
deceased  children. 

Of  the  children  of  Samuel  and  Lucy  Peabody  the 
following  is  recorded:  Ellen  B.  died  in  Christian 
County  when  thirty-five  years  old.  William  A.,  who 
died  in  his  seventy-ninth  year,  came  with  one  of 
his  brothers  to  this  county  in  1837.  He  was  called 
by  the  title  of  Captain,  as  for  a  number  of  years 
he  was  Captain  of  a  military  company  here.  Dr. 
Elias,  born  in  1812,  is  still  living,  and  is  one  of  the 
oldest  physicians  in  the  county,  though  he  has  now 
retired  from  professional  life;  Amos  P.,  a  resident 
of  Taylorville,  was  born  in  1815;  our  subject  is 
the  next  in  order  of  birth;  Mary  died  when  about 
twenty -eight  years  of  age;  Elvira  and  Lore  died 
in  Connecticut;  Martha  died  at  an  advanced  age; 
and  Nancy  died  in  the  Nutmeg  State,  after  having 
reached  four-score  years. 

Samuel  Peabody,  whose  name  heads  this  sketch, 
passed  his  boyhood  on  the  old  farm  in  his  native 
State,  and  received  his  education  in  the  common 
schools  there.  In  1839.  he  came  with  the  family 
to  this  county,  making  the  greater  part  of  the 
journey  by  water.  After  becoming  of  age,  he 
farmed  a  part  of  his  father's  estate  until  the  latter, 
on  his  death,  left  him  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres.  This  has  since  been  the  home  of  Mr. 
Peabody.  In  the  early  days  of  his  residence  in 
this  county,  Decatur  was  a  very  small  town  and 
Taylorville  was  unknown. 

In  1846  our  subject  married  Miss  Jane  Burnam, 
of  this  county,  who  died  about  eight  years  later. 
In  1857  Mr.  Peabody  married  Miss  Maria  Park- 
hurst,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  who  is  still  living. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


267 


For  twenty  years  our  subject  served  as  a  School 
Trustee  and  was  a  School  Director  and  Township 
Trustee  for  a  number  of  years.  For  nearly  a-half 
century  lie  has  been  a  Deacon  and  Trustee  in  the 
Baptist  Church.  In  his  political  views  he  is  a  Re- 
publican. The  confidence  of  one  and  all  is  fully 
bestowed  upon  him,  and  he  well  merits  the  good- 
will and  friendship  which  are  freely  his.  He  is  an 
honorable  and  upright  man  and  his  course  in  life 
is  one  of  which  he  may  justly  be  proud. 


JOHNSON    BROTHERS  are  the    prosperous 
proprietors   of    Maple    Farm,    Assumption 
Township,  their  residence  being  on  section 
21,  and  they  are  well  known  in  this  and 
neighboring    counties,   as    they    have    been    resi- 
dents of  Illinois  for  forty-three  years,  and  for  a 
third  of  a  century  their  lot  has  been  cast  with  the 
inhabitants  of  Christian  County.     They  are  num- 
bered among  the  honored   old  settlers  and  most 
worthy  citizens,   and   their  many  friends  will  be 
pleased  to  read  the  history   of  their  lives  in  this 
record. 

Benjamin  Johnson,  the  father  of  the  gentlemen 
who  are  the  subjects  of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Lon- 
don, England,  June  8.  1799.  He  early  learned  the 
cabinet-maker's  trade,  and  in  1823  emigrated  to 
the  New  World,  first  locating  in  Baltimore,  Md., 
where  he  followed  his  trade  for  a  few  years.  Re- 
moving to  Ohio,  Mr.  Johnson  first  located  in  Bel- 
mont  County,  in  St.  Clairsville,  afterward  going  to 
Guernsey  County,  where  he  resided  for  a  number 
of  years,  still  working  at  his  trade.  While  in  Bel- 
mont  County,  Ohio,  .in  1826,  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Elizabeth  Foote,  who  was  a  native  of  County 
Cork,  Ireland,  and  emigrated  to  America  the  same 
year  Mr.  Johnson  came  to  this  country.  In  1849, 
he  removed  to  Illinois,  and  settled  in  Greene 
County,  where  he  and  his  sons  entered  into  part- 
nership with  a  Mr.  Harden,  and  engaged  in  farm- 
ing and  stock-raising  for  ten  years.  In  1860,  the 
family  removed  to  Christian  County,  and  pur- 


chased a  tract  of  land  located  in  Assumption 
Township.  Here  the  father  spent  the  last  years  of 
his  life,  dying  in  January,  1876,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-seven  years.  His  wife,  who  survived  him 
and  passed  away  March  12,  1891,  reached  the  ad- 
vanced age  of  ninety  years. 

The  family  of  Benjamin  Johnson  comprised 
seven  sons  and  two  daughters,  who  lived  to  ma- 
turity. The  eldest,  Robert  G.  Johnson,  was  born 
in  Belmont  County,  March  10,  1827;  Wade  F. 
was  born  in  the  same  county,  September  13,  1828; 
Margaret  died  in  1878;  Edward  was  a  partner 
with  his  brothers  for  several  years,  and  after  his 
marriage  was  a  successful  farmer  of  this  county 
until  his  death,  in  1882;  Martha  lives  with  her 
brothers;  Walter  was  also  in  partnership  with  the 
brothers  until  his  marriage,  and  engaged  in  farm- 
ing until  his  demise  in  1890,  when  he  left  a  wife 
and  two  sons;  William  L.  is  next  in  order  of 
birth;  and  Benjamin  and  Leo,  both  well-to-do 
farmers,  complete  the  family. 

The  firm  of  Johnson  Brothers  originally  com- 
prised the  father  and  seven  brothers.  They  bought 
land,  farmed  and  raised  stock,  and  carried  on  an 
extensive  business  for  years.  As  the  brothers  mar- 
ried, they  withdrew  their  interests  from  the  firm, 
and  at  the  present  time  it  consists  of  the  follow- 
ing: Robert  G.,  Wade  F.  and  William  L.  They 
own  about  eighteen  hundred  acres  of  valuable 
land  in  this  county,  besides  other  real  estate  and 
personal  property.  They  first  entered  a  tract  of 
nine  hundred  acres  of  raw  land,  which  they  im- 
proved, and  set  out  maple  and  other  forest  trees. 
This  beautiful  grove,  so  well  known  in  the  local- 
ity, stands  near  the  home,  and  many  of  the  trees 
now  measure  from  twenty-four  to  thirty  inches  in 
diameter.  The  substantial  residence,  barns  and 
outbuildings  are  kept  up  in  good  shape,  and,  sur- 
rounded as  they  are  by  the  noble  trees,  make  a 
most  pleasing  picture  of  a  model  farm.  Three  of 
the  Johnson  brothers  served  in  the  Union  army 
during  the  late  Civil  War.  Edward  F.  and  Will- 
iam L.  both  enlisted  in  Company  G,  One  Hundred 
and  Sixteenth  Illinois  Infantry,  in  1862,  and 
served  until  the  close  of  hostilities.  They  were 
with  Sherman,  and  took  part  in  all  the  engage- 
ments in  which  that  army  participated,  including 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


the  celebrated  march  to  the  sea.  Benjamin  J.  en- 
listed May  14,  1864,  for  the  one  hundred-day 
service,  but  served  about  five  months. 

Wade  Johnson  was  only  a  lad  when  he  planted 
one  and  a-half  acres  of  corn,  and  cared  for  it  until 
it  was  harvested.  He  has  taken  quite  an  active 
part  in  local  politics  of  late  years,  and  served  for 
ten  consecutive  years  as  Highway  Commissioner. 
During  that  time  eighty  miles  of  township  roads 
were  laid  out  and  opened  on  the  section  lines.  He 
also  served  for  thirty  years  as  Township  Trustee, 
and  for  live  years  was  President  of  the  Assump- 
tion Fire  Insurance  Company,  at  the  same  time 
serving  as  Treasurer.  Since  locating  in  this  coun- 
ty, the  brothers  have  given  their  attention  more 
especially  to  the  raising  of  stock,  and  have  a  large 
portion  of  their  land  devoted  to  pastures.  In 
politics  they  are  all  true-blue  Republicans,  and 
active  in  local  politics.  Robert  Johnson,  like  his 
brother,  has  also  held  numerous  local  positions  of 
responsibility,  the  duties  of  which  he  has  dis- 
charged satisfactorily. 


AVID  M.  MOORE.  It  is  a  special  plea- 
sure to  trace  the  history  of  one  of  the 
honored  veterans  of  the  Civil  War,  who 
fought  and  suffered  untold  hardships  in 
the  defense  of  this  fair  and  now  prosperous  land. 
The  gentleman  of  whom  we  write  was  one  of  the 
soldier  boys  who  donned  the  blue  early  in  the  war 
and  did  valiant  service  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes. 
Mr.  Moore  has  only  been  a  resident  of  Christian 
County  for  some  twelve  years,  during  which  time 
he  has  been  engaged  in  farming  on  section  25, 
Stonington  Township,  but  since  casting  his  lot  in 
this  neighborhood  he  has  become  thoroughly  inter- 
ested in  its  prosperity. 

The  birth  of  Mr.  Moore  occurred  in  Licking 
County,  Ohio,  July  8,  1833.  He  is  the  eldest  in  a 
family  comprising  three  sons  and  three  daughters. 
His  parents  are  Samuel  and  Jane  M.  (Gaughy) 
Moore.  The  next  younger  in  the  family  is  Jane, 


wife  of  Henry  Safford,  who  resides  in  McLean 
County,  111.  Anna  is  the  wife  of  Henry  Morris,  a 
retired  farmer,  now  residing  in  Kankakee,  111. 
Eliza  became  the  wife  of  E.  H.  Roberts,  of  Ottawa, 
111.  Hugh  B.  is  a  farmer,  residing  near  Jamestown, 
N.  Dak.  One  child  died  in  infancy. 

Samuel  Moore  was  born  in  Adams  County,  Pa., 
August  18,  1802.  His  father,  David  Moore,  was 
also  a  native  of  that  county,  and  was  one  of  its 
Trustees  in  1799,  when  the  county  was  organized, 
prior  to  which  time  it  was  a  part  of  York  County. 
He  was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution, 
and  was  a  Deacon  in  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
The  father  of  our  subject  was  only  two  years  old 
when  his  parents  took  him  to  Licking  County, 
Ohio,  where  he  was  reared  to  manhood  on  a  farm. 
After  his  marriage,  he  carried  on  a  farm  and  oper- 
ated a  gristmill.  He  was  a  prominent  man  in 
the  Whig  party  at  that  time,  and  was  Justice  of 
the  Peace  for  a  number  of  years.  In  1856,  he  emi- 
grated to  La  Salle  County,  111.,  where  he  resided 
until  his  death,  in  February,  1863.  His  wife  was 
also  a  native  of  Adarns  County,  Pa.,  born  in  1810, 
and  was  of  Scotch  descent.  She  was  called  from 
this  life  in  Livingston  County,  111.,  when  in  her 
seven ty-cighth  year. 

David  M.  Moore  passed  his  early  years  on  his 
father's  farm  in  Licking  County,  Ohio,  and  re- 
mained with  his  parents  until  twenty-nine  years 
of  age,  being  given  a  good  common-school  educa- 
tion. On  the  25th  of  September,  1861,  he  joined 
Yates'  Sharp-shooters,  Sixty-fourth  Regiment  Illi- 
nois Infantry,  and  served  with  them  for  two  years 
and  three  months.  He  enlisted  as  a  private,  but 
before  two  months  had  elapsed  he  was  elected 
Sergeant,  while  at  Camp  Butler.  A  short  time 
afterwards  he  was  promoted  to  the  Second  Lieu- 
tenancy, and  after  valiant  service  in  the  battle  of 
Resaca,  in  which  the  Captain  of  his  company  was 
killed,  he  was  promoted  to  fill  the  position.  He 
was  a  participant  in  the  noted  engagements  of 
Atlanta,  Corinth,  Resaca,  Island  No.  10,  and  in  a 
great  many  other  battles  of  more  or  less  note. 
He  received  an  honorable  discharge  on  the  26th  of 
November,  1864,  being  obliged  to  leave  the  army 
on  account  of  much  trouble  he  was  experiencing 
with  his  eyes. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


269 


Returning  to  La  Salle  County,  111.,  he  was  there 
wedded  on  the  19th  of  November,  1866,  to  Miss 
Nellie  Briggs,  of  that  county,  who  died  in  1872, 
leaving  two  sons,  David  E.  and  James  B.,  who  are 
both  engaged  in  farming  in  this  county.  After 
living  for  some  years  in  La  Salle  County,  Mr. 
Moore  removed  to  Livingston  County,  where  he 
continued  to  reside  until  1877,  then  going  to  Ne- 
braska. At  the  end  of  four  years  spent  in  the 
West,  he  returned, in  1881,  and  bought  land  in 
Christian  County,  the  farm  which  he  still  operates. 

In  1874,  occurred  the  union  of  Mr.  Moore  and 
Miss  Sarah  E.  Peabody.  She  is  the  daughter  of 
Capt.  M.  M.  Peabody,  one  of  the  early  settlers  and 
most  worthy  citizens  of  this  county.  Our  sub- 
ject's farm  comprises  eighty  acres,  on  which  are 
substantial  improvements  and  a  fine  orchard.  In 
politics,  Mr.  Moore  is  an  active  Republican  and  is 
now  one  of  the  School  Trustees  of  this  district. 
In  his  social  relations,  he  is  a  member  oC  the  Ma- 
sonic order  and  belongs  to  Post  No.  392,  G.  A.  R., 
of  Taylorville. 


bEE  SCHRANTZ.  Among  the  many  men 
who  have  contributed  to  the  building  up  of 
Stonington  Township,  stands  the  name  of 
our  subject,  whose  farm  is  situated  on  section  18. 
Like  many  of  the  residents  of  Christian  County 
he  hails  from  the  Buckeye  State,  having  been  born 
in  Stark  County,  December  16,  1855.  He  is  one 
of  four  sons  and  a  daughter  born  to  Ephraim  and 
Nancy  (Mohler)  Schrantz,  whose  record  may  be 
found  in  another  portion  of  this  work,  in  the  his- 
tory of  Sylvester  Schrantz. 

The  early  years  of  our  subject  were  passed  on 
his  father's  farm  in  Ohio,  and  at  the  age  of  eleven 
years  he  attended  his  parents  on  their  removal  to 
Christian  County.  Until  reaching  his  majority  he 
gave  his  time  to  assisting  his  father  on  the  home- 
stead and  acquiring  a  good  common-school  educa- 
tion. When  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age,  his 
father  gave  him  a  good  start  in  life  by  deeding  to 


him  an  eighty-acre  farm.  On  this  place  he  has 
continued  to  reside  up  to  the  present  time  and  has 
made  quite  a  success  of  agricultural  pursuits. 
Although  he  follows  general  farming,  he  makes  a 
specialty  of  breeding  thoroughbred  Jersey  cattle, 
in  which  he  deals  quite  extensively. 

On  the  28th  of  December,  1876,  Mr.  Schrantz 
married  Miss  Emma  Wood,  who  was  born  in  Octo- 
ber, 1854,  in  Piatt  County,  111.  She  is  a  daughter 
of  George  and  Sarah  (Hodge)  Wood,  who  were 
old  and  respected  settlers  of  Piatt  County.  Three 
bright  children  have  blessed  the  union  of  our  sub- 
ject and  wife.  In  order  of  birth  they  are  as  fol- 
lows: Ross,  Roy  and  Claude.  They  are  all  at 
home  and  are  being  given  good  educations. 

A  patriotic  citizen  at  all  times,  Mr.  Schrantz 
endeavors  to  the  extent  of  his  ability  to  promote 
the  general  welfare,  and  believing  that  the  meas- 
ures of  the  Republican  party  are  best  adapted  to 
that  end  he  deposits  his  ballot  in  favor  of  its  nom- 
inees. He  has  in  his  possession  a  secretary  which 
was  made  for  his  father's  family  in  1840,  a  pocket- 
book  of  his  grandfather's,  which  was  purchased 
in  1836,  and  a  letter  written  to  Hans  Schrantz 
from  Germany  and  sent  to  Pennsylvania  May 
22,  1761.  He  has  been  a  witness  of  much  of  the 
development  of  this  county  and  has  done  his 
share  in  assisting  in  her  prosperity.  He  is  an  up- 
right and  honorable  man,  one  whose  fairness  of 
dealing  and  good  judgment  have  won  for  him  the 
confidence  and  high  regard  of  his  friends  and 
neighbors. 


OZ.  HOUSLEY  is  senior  member  of  the  firm 
of  Housley  &  Drake,  who  are  engaged  in 
general  merchandising  in   Grove  City,  and 
have  a  branch  house  at  Stoninglon.     Mr.  Housley 
is  well  known  as  one  of   the  successful  business 
men  of  Christian  County,  of  which  he  is  one  of 
the  honored  early  settlers,  his  residence  here  dat- 
ing back   to  1856.      He  is  a  man  of   recognized 


270 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


ability  as  a  business  man,  and  is  truly  self-made, 
as  he  started  out  to  carve  his  career  without  means 
or  assistance.  As  the  years  have  passed  he  has  suc- 
ceeded in  adding  to  his  property,  until  he  is  now 
one  of  the  substantial  and  well-to-do  men  of  the 
county. 

The  birthplace  of  Mr.  Housley  was  near  Akron, 
Ohio,  and  the  date  of  that  event  was  July  15, 
1851.  His  father,  Henry  Housley,  was  a  native 
of  the  Old  Dominion,  who  went  with  his  parents 
to  Ohio  when  only  a  child.  On  arriving  at  man's 
estate,  he  was  wedded  in  the  Buckeye  State  to 
Miss  Charlotte  Uhrich,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania. 
For  a  number  of  years  he  followed  agricultural 
pursuits  in  Ohio,  and  in  1856  located  in  Mt.  Au- 
burn Township,  Christian  County,  where  he  pur- 
chased a  farm  and  devoted  himself  to  its  cultiva- 
tion for  a  number  of  years.  He  then  rented  his 
farm  and  removed  to  Grove  City,  where  he  has 
since  lived  a  retired  life,  honored  and  respected  by 
all.  lie  was  a  strong  Republican,  and  during  the 
Lincoln  and  Douglas  campaign,  our  subject,  who 
was  then  a  lad,  took  sides  with  Douglas.  He 
raised  a  hickory  pole  in  his  honor,  being  doubtless 
influenced  thereto  by  his  grandfather  Uhrich,  who 
read  to  him  the  Democratic  papers.  The  father, 
not  knowing  what  else  to  do,  decided  to  place  an 
ash  pole  beside  the  hickory  pole,  both  remaining 
during  the  campaign. 

O.  Z.  Housley  has  passed  nearly  his  entire  life  in 
this  county,  as  he  was  only  five  years  old  when  his 
parents  located  here.  For  those  days  he  had  good 
school  advantages,  as,  in  addition  to  his  district- 
school  education,  he  went  for  one  term  to  a  High 
School  near  Des  Moines,  Iowa.  After  leaving  the 
parental  roof,  he  worked  for  about  a  year  at  the 
carpenter's  trade,  and  at  the  expiration  of  that 
time  found  he  had  a  surplus  of  $40.  This  money 
he  carefully  invested  in  a  small  stock  of  shelf 
hardware  and  tinware,  with  a  few  agricultural 
implements,  selling  the  latter  on  commission. 
Though  this  beginning  was  extremely  small,  he 
was  not  discouraged,  but  kept  manfully  adding  to 
his  stock  of  goods  as  fast  as  possible.  When  a 
few  years  had  passed  he  added  a  stock  of  groceries, 
and  in  time  drugs  and  dry  goods.  During  the 
past  twenty  years  the  firm  lias  been  changed  sev- 


eral times,  the  present  partnership  being  formed 
in  1881. 

The  firm  of  Housley  &  Drake  have  a  large  store 
building,  and  carry  an  immense  assortment  of  dry- 
goods,  groceries,  drugs,  hardware,  boots  and  shoes. 
Handling  as  much  money  as  they  have  for  many 
years,  they  have  found  it  convenient  for  their 
patrons  to  establish  an  exchange  bank,  and  do 
considerable  local  banking.  They  have  built  up 
a  large  trade,  which  has  been  increasing  for  years. 
In  the  spring  of  1893,  their  branch  business  house 
at  Stonington  was  established.  There  they  have 
put  in  a  good  stock  of  groceries  and  hardware, 
and  also  an  exchange  bank,  which  is  under  the  su- 
pervision and  management  of  Mr.  Drake,  the 
junior  partner.  The  prospects  for  this  branch 
store  appear  to  be  very  encouraging.  When  we 
consider  from  what  a  small  beginning  these  two 
large  business  houses  have  grown,  it  can  but  be  a 
matter  of  surprise.  It  is  simply  an  example  of 
what  strict  attention  to  business  and  the  wants  of 
patrons  can  accomplish. 

Mr.  Housley  is  a  stanch  supporter  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  having  voted  for  its  nominees  in  every 
Presidei*t**i campaign  since  1872,  and  was  one  of 
the  first  supporters  of  Hon.  Mr.  Springer  in  this 
district.  He  has  also  been  active  in  local  politics, 
and  has  filled  various  township  positions,  among 
which  we  mention  that  of  Highway  Commissioner, 
Township  Treasurer  and  Clerk.  During  the  ad- 
ministration of  President  Hayes,  he  was  appointed 
Postmaster, and  was  again  appointed  during  Cleve- 
land's administration.  His  successor  was  Mr. 
Drake,  who  served  also  for  four  years.  Mr.  Hous- 
ley was  then  again  appointed  to  the  position,  and 
at  the  present  time  is  the  efficient  incumbent  of 
the  office,  which  has  been  in  his  hands  now  for 
some  fourteen  years. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Housley  and  Miss  Victoria 
Reese  was  performed  in  this  county  in  October, 
1873.  The  lady  is  a  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
where  she  grew  to  womanhood.  The  family  com- 
prises four  children:  Maud,  who  is  employed  in 
her  father's  store;  Frances  C.  and  Flora  B.,  twins; 
and  Carrie  May.  The  eldest  child  died  in  in- 
fancy. The  parents  with  the  elder  members  of 
the  family  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD 


271 


pal  Church  of  Grove  City,  of  which  Mr.  Housley 
is  one  of  the  active  members,  having  served  in 
various  offices.  He  is  a  Mason,  belonging  to 
Grove  City  Lodge,  in  which  he  held  the  office  of 
Worshipful  for  some  seven  or  eight  years,  and  is 
now  acting  as  Secretary.  For  several  years  he 
was  called  upon  to  represent  his  lodge  in  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Illinois.  He  also  holds  member- 
ship with  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America. 


JUDGE    ALEXANDER    McCASKILL,    one 
of   Christian  County's  prominent  lawyers, 
who  is  engaged  in  practice    in  Taylorville 
as  the  senior  member  of  the  firm  of  McCas- 
kill  &  Son,  has  been    prominently   identified  with 
the  judicial  interests  of  central  Illinois.     Both  on 
the  Bench  and  as  an  advocate  he  has  won  a  high 
reputation,  and   his  abilities,  both  natural  and  ac- 
quired, have  placed  Jiim  in  the  front  rank  among 
his  professional  brethren.  • 

The  Judge  has  spent  nearly  his  entire  life  in 
this  State.  He  was  born  in  Sanaramon  County, 
near  Rochester,  January  23,  1833,  and  is  a  son  of 
Rev.  Daniel  and  Esther  (Turner)  McCaskill,  the 
former  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  and  the  latter 
of  Virginia.  They  were  married  in  Sangamon 
County,  111.,  and  in  1834  removed  with  their  fam- 
ily to  Brown  County.  The  father  was  a  minister 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  was  also 
a  medical  practitioner.  He  died  in  Brown  County 
about  1846,  at  the  age  of  fifty  years.  His  wife 
survived  him  some  time,  and  passed  away  in  1861. 
The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  the  fourth  child 
in  his  parents'  family.  He  was  only  about  a  year 
old  at  the  time  of  their  removal  to  Brown  County, 
and  was  a  youth  of  only  thirteen  when  his  father 
died.  lie  remained  with  his  mother  and  aided  in 
the  labors  of  the  home  farm  until  twenty-three 
years  of  age,  with  the  exception  of  the  time  spent 
in  school.  He  attended  school  in  Mt.  Sterling,  the 
county  seat  of  Brown  County,  and  was  afterward 
a  student  in  the  school  of  the  Cumberland  Presby- 


terian Church,  in  Cass  County,  Va.  His  tastes 
were  in  the  direction  of  a  professional  life,  and 
while  still  on  the  farm  he  began  reading  law.  Sub- 
sequently he  pursued  his  literary  studies  for  two 
years,  and  then  entered  the  law  office  of  Bailey, 
VanVleck  &  Wells,  of  Macomb,  111.  He  passed 
an  examination  in  Mt.  Sterling  and  was  admitted 
to  the  Bar  in  1856. 

In  December  of  the  same  year,  in  Prairie  City, 
111.,  Mr.  McCaskill  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Miss  Elvira  Medcalf,  who  died  in  1862,  leaving 
two  children:  William  H.,  who  for  the  past  ten 
years  has  carried  on  farming  and  stock-raising 
near  Rocky  Ford,  Otero  County,  Colo.;  and  David, 
who  is  also  a  ranchman.  In  1863,  the  Judge  was 
again  married,  his  second  union  being  with  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Head,  widow  of  Dr.  Head,  of  Macomb, 
111.  They  have  one  son,  who  is  now  the  junior 
member  of  the  firm  of  McCaskill  &  Son. 

On  the  same  year  of  his  admission  to  the  Bar 
Judge  McCaskill  began  practice  in  Prairie  City, 
where  he  remained  for  about  a  year.  In  1857  he 
came  to  Christian  County  and  opened  an  office  in 
Taylorville.  Here  he  found  Judge  H.  M.  Vande- 
v«er,  Benjamin  Mason,  A.  McWilliams,  Judge  An- 
drew Simpson,  Judge  Moon,  the  Circuit  Clerk  and 
Harrison  Havens.  None  of  these  gentlemen  are  now 
in  practice  at  this  place,  although  Judge  Moore  is 
now  proprietor  of  a  hotel  in  Morrisonville.  Mr. 
McCaskill  suspended  his  professional  labors  in 
1859,  going  to  Pike's  Peak.  He  spent  about  two 
years  at  Russell's  Gulch,  near  Pike's  Peak,  where, 
in  connection  with  his  brother,  Dr.  John  McCas- 
kill, he  purchased  and  operated  some  mines.  The 
Judge  also  engaged  in  practice.  In  1861  he  re- 
turned to  Christian  County  and  once  more  opened 
a  law  office,  forming  a  partnership  with  his  brother 
Daniel.  The  latter  served  throughout  the  late 
war,  went  with  Sherman  on  the  celebrated  Atlanta 
campaign,  and  after  the  struggle  studied  law  and 
then  entered  into  partnership  with  his  brother, 
as  above  stated.  This  connection  was  continued 
until  some  ten  years  ago,  when  the  health  of  the 
brother  failed  and  he  went  to  Pueblo,  Colo. 
Judge  McCaskill  then  admitted  to  partnership 
with  him  Kleber  E.  Willcockson,  now  of  Oakley, 
Kan.,  and  later  the  present  firm  was  formed. 


27, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


In  his  political  views  Judge  McCaskill  is  a  stal- 
wart Democrat;  he  has  taken  an  active  part  in  cam- 
paign work  and  has  made  hundreds  of  speeches  in 
support  of  his  party.  From  the  beginning  his  ca- 
reer as  a  legal  practitioner  has  been  one  of  success. 
He  is  a  clear  reasoner,  a  logical  thinker,  carefully 
weighs  evidence,  and  his  deductions  therefore  are 
generally  correct  and  have  weight  with  the  jury. 
He  has  been  employed  on  nearly  all  of  the  murder 
cases  of  the  county,  usually  on  the  defense,  and 
was  one  of  the  counsel  for  the'defense  in  the  fam- 
ous Emma  Bond  case.  Frequently  he  has  been 
called  upon  to  fill  public  offices.  In  1864  he  was 
appointed  County  Superintendent  of  Schools  for 
one  year,  and  on  the  expiration  of  that  period  was 
elected  for  a  four-years  term,  serving  until  1869. 
He  was  then  elected  and  served  for  four  years  as 
State's  Attorney,  after  which  he  was  placed  upon 
the  Bench  as  County  Judge,  filling  that  office  for 
five  years.  For  two  years  he  served  as  Master  in 
Chancery,  his  term  expiring  in  January,  1893. 

Socially,  the  Judge  was  made  a  Mason  in  Mound 
Lodge  No.  122,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  which  he  served 
as  Worshipful  Master  for  some  years.  He  has  filled 
the  principal  offices  in  Taylorville  Chapter,  R.  A. 
.M.  Judge  McCaskill  is  well  fitted  to  be  a  leader 
of  men  and  has  therefore  been  prominent  in  pub- 
lic life.  He  possesses  more  than  ordinary  ability, 
yet  his  success  is  due  in  no  small  degree  to  his  ap- 
plication and  earnest  efforts.  Respected  by  his 
colleagues  and  honored  by  all,  he  well  deserves 
prominent  mention  in  the  history  of  his  adopted 
county. 


ARION  C.  BRENTZ,  who  resides  just  out- 
side the  city  limits  of  Taylorville,  where 
he  is  engaged  in  the  culture  of  small 
fruits,  has  spent  his  entire  life  in  this 
community,  Christian  being  his  native  county, 
and  he  is  a  worthy  representative  of  one  of  the 
pioneer  families.  His  father,  William  C.  Brcntz, 
was  born  in  Kentucky,  April  16,  1814,  and  was 
the  sixth  of  seven  sons.  His  father  died  in  Ken- 


tucky, and  his  widowed  mother  with  her  seven 
sons  and  one  daughter  came  to  Illinois,  locating 
in  Christian  County  at  an  early  day.  Upon  the 
home  farm  William  Brentz  was  reared  to  man- 
hood, and  there  spent  his  entire  life.  He  was 
married  July  10,  1853,  to  Patience  Durbin,  but 
lost  his  wife  on  the  29th  of  May,  1854.  He  was 
then  married,  on  the  16th  of  November,  1856,  to 
Mary  A.  Martin,  also  a  native  of  Kentucky.  They 
continued  to  reside  on  the  old  homestead  until 
the  death  of  Mr.  Brentz,  which  occurred  February 
3,  1861. 

Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brentz  were  born  four  chil- 
dren: Alice,  who  died  at  the  age  of  fourteen; 
Alma,  who  died  in  infancy;  William  A.  and 
Marion  C.  William  A.  was  born  August  26,  1858, 
and  died  on  the  old  homestead  in  September,  1879, 
soon  after  his  twenty-first  birthday.  His  death 
resulted  from  a  knife-cut  inflicted  by  Frank 
Trailer,  a  cousin,  who  later  on  was  convicted  for 
the  offense.  A  quarrel  arose  between  them  over 
a  collision  of  buggies,  and  the  result  was  as  above 
stated.  It  was  thought  that  companions  of  Trailer 
bore  an  old  grudge  against  Y^illiam  and  took  this 
opportunity  to  get  even.  His  cousin  served  one 
year  in  the  penitentiary  and  died  soon  after  his 
release. 

After  Mr.  Brentz's  death  his  widow  became  the 
wife  of  Dennis  O.  Johnson,  of  Sangamon  County, 
who  came  to  Christian  County  and  here  died  Sep- 
tember 21,  1873,  at  the  age  of  fifty  years.  The 
mother  of  our  subject  was  called  to  her  final  rest 
on  the  7th  of  December,  1876.  By  her  second 
marriage  she  had  eight  children,  four  of  whom 
were  living  at  her  death.  Thomas,  a  young  man 
of  nineteen  years,  now  resides  in  Taylorville. 

In  taking  up  the  life  record  of  Marion  Brentz, 
we  give  to  our  readers  the  history  of  one  who  is 
widely  and  favorably  known  in  this  community. 
He  was  born  on  the  old  home  farm  April  14,  1861, 
after  his  father's  death.  Midst  work  and  play  his 
boyhood  days  were  passed,  and  after  the  death  of 
his  brother  he  carried  on  the  farm,  keeping  the 
family  of  three  children  together.  The  farm  is 
located  just  south  of  Taylorville,  and  comprises 
two  hundred  and  twenty  acres  cf  land.  They 
also  owned  two  other  tracts  of  forty  acres  each , 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


273 


but  these  were  sold.  On  the  death  of  Mrs.  John- 
son, her  brother,  A.  S.  Martin,  was  appointed 
guardian,  and  continued  to  superintend  the  estate 
until  our  subject  became  of  age.  In  1888,  Mr. 
Brcntz  left  the  old  homestead,  but  he  still  owns  a 
part  of  the  farm.  He  has  eleven  acres  of  rich 
land  where  he  now  lives  and  forty -six  acres  of  the 
old  place.  About  seven  acres  are  planted  in  small 
fruits,  and  he  is  giving  his  special  attention  to 
horticulture. 

On  the  1st  of  May,  1882,  Mr.  Brentz  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Helen  Killman, 
daughter  of  George  Killman,  of  Kentucky.  Her 
mother,  who  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Matilda 
Newman,  is  now  a  widow,  and  resides  in  Tay- 
lorville,  where  she  has  made  her  home  since 
1880.  Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brentz  was  born  a  son, 
Francis  Marion,  who  died  January  14,  1889,  at 
the  age  of  three  and  a-half  years;  another  little  son, 
whom  they  call  Herman,  was  born  May  28,  1893. 
This  worthy  couple  are  highly  respected  citizens 
of  the  community,  and  their  many  excellencies  of 
character  have  gained  them  numerous  friends.  In 
politics,  Mr.  Brentz  is  a  Democrat,  and  himself 
and  wife  hold  membership  with  the  Christian 
Church. 


PRANCIS  STEWART.  This  gentleman,  who 
is  well  known  in  Christian  County,  where 
he  has  made  his  home  since  1860,  is  en- 
gaged in  farming  on  section  32,  Mosquito  Town- 
ship. He  was  born  in  1837,  in  County  Down,  Ire- 
land, and  grew  to  manhood  in  the  home  of  his 
parents.  He  was  early  inured  to  farm  duties  and 
became  thoroughly  conversant  with  everything 
pertaining  to  the  successful  management  of  the 
farm.  This  practical  information  has  been  of 
great  use  to  him  in  his  agricultural  pursuits,  and 
in  his  youth  he  formed  habits  of  industry  and 
perseverance  which  have  been  the  foundation  of 
his  prosperity  in  later  years. 

The    parents   of  our   subject   were   James   and 


Dorothea  (Brown)  Stewart,  who  were  both  natives 
of  County  Down,  where  they  passed  their  entire 
lives,  both  dying  after  attaining  an  advanced  age. 
Our  subject  is  the  youngest  in  the  family  of  seven 
children.  When  he  was  eighteen  years  old  he 
bade  adieu  to  the  friends  and  scenes  of  his  youth 
and  went  to  Scotland.  For  two  years  he  worked 
in  the  city  of  Glasgow,  after  which  he  determined 
to  try  his  fortune  in  America. 

In  18o7,  Mr.  Stewart  crossed  the  broad  Atlantic, 
and  after  arriving  in  New  York  City  first  settled 
in  New  York  State,  where  he  obtained  work  on  a 
farm.  In  the  fall  of  1860,  he  came  to  Illinois 
and  purchased  the  nucleus  of  his  present  farm,  a 
tract  of  forty  acres,  on  which  he  has  ever  since 
made  his  home.  At  the  time  of  his  coming  here 
there  were  few  settlers  in  the  township.  His 
farm  is  fertile  and  well  tilled,  his  broad  acres 
yielding  an  abundant  income  to  their  fortunate 


The  year  after  his  arrival  in  Christian  County, 
Mr.  Stewart  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Isa- 
bella Irvine.  She  is  a  native  of  Ontario,  Canada, 
and  has  become  the  mother  of  seven  children: 
James,  who  is  engaged  in  farming  in  this  county; 
Dorothea  and  Maggie,  twins,  the  former  of  whom 
died  in  infancy,  and  the  latter  at  the  age  of  twen- 
ty years;  Belle,  the  wife  of  William  Black,  a  pros- 
perous farmer  of  Macon  County;  William,  an 
agriculturist  of  this  county;  Charles,  who  is  now 
attending  Knox  College,  in  Galesburg,  111.;  and 
Rutherford  B.,  who  died  in  infancy. 

The  farm  owned  by  Mr.  Stewart  has  been  ex- 
tended from  the  forty-acre  tract  he  originally  pur- 
chased to  one  covering  two  hundred  and  forty 
acres.  Many  valuable  improvements  have  been 
made  upon  the  place,  and  waving  fields  of  golden 
grain  have  for  many  years  yielded  him  an  abun- 
dant income  as  the  reward  for  his  untiring  care 
and  cultivation. 

In  politics,  our  subject  is  a  thorough  Repub- 
lican, having  always  voted  for  the  nominees  of 
that  party  since  casting  his  first  vote  for  Abraham 
Lincoln.  As  all  true  American  citizens  should  be, 
he  is  interested  in  educational  matters  and  has 
served  for  twenty  years  as  one  of  the  School 
Directors  in  his  district.  Fora  period  of  six  years 


274 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


be  was  one  of  the  Commissioners  of  Highways. 
In  religion,  lie  is  a  Reformed  Presbyterian.  His 
wife  holds  membership  with  the  Methodist  denom- 
ination, lie  has  seen  the  prairie,  which  in  former 
years  was  covered  with  rank  grass,  become  a  fertile 
and  beautiful  farming  country,  and  has  taken  his 
share  in  its  happy  transformation.  He  was  also 
in  the  service  of  his  country  in  the  late  war,  hav- 
ing enlisted  in  the  One  Hundred  and  Fifty-second 
Illinois  Infantry  for  one  year,  and  served  till  the 
war  ended. 


PRED  WHEELER,  a  leading  photographer 
of  Tnylorville,  and  one  of  the  progressive 
and  public-spirited  business  men  of  the 
county,  claims  New  York  as  the  State  of  his  na- 
tivity. He  was  born  in  Waterloo,  on  the  26th  of 
August,  1845,  but  when  only  a  year  old  was  taken 
by  his  parents  to  Washington  Ccunty,  Ohio,  and 
in  Beverly  grew  to  mature  years.  No  event  of 
special  importance  occurred  during  his  early  boy- 
hood, which  was  passed  midst  play  and  work  and 
in  attendance  at  the  public  schools,  where  he  ac- 
quired his  education. 

Mr.  Wheeler's  connection  with  photography  be- 
gan when  he  was  sixteen  years  of  age.  At  that 
time  he  commenced  learning  the  business,  which 
he  has  since  followed,  and  after  two  years  of  thor- 
ough preparation  and  practice  he  embarked  in 
business  for  himself  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  Zanes- 
ville,  Ohio,  being  the  scene  of  his  labors.  From 
that  time  he  has  engaged  in  business,  first  in  Park- 
ersburg,  W.  Va.,  and  later  in  Bement,  111.  The 
year  1877  witnessed  his  arrival  in  Taylorville,  111., 
•where  he  opened  a  gallery.  For  five  or  six  yews 
he  carried  on  operations  in  Taylorville,  but  at 
length  left  this  city,  in  1882. 

Before  his  removal,  however,  Mr.  Wheeler  was 
married,  on  the  28th  of  March,  1882,  the  lady  of 
his  choice  being  Miss  Alice  Simpson,  daughter  of 
J.  L.  and  Isabel  Simpson,  of  Taylorville.  The 


same  year  he  removed  with  his  young  wife  to 
Nebraska,  locating  in  Teoumseh,and  subsequently 
went  to  Marion,  Kan.,  where  he  remained  until  his 
return  to  Illinois.  In  1888,  we  again  find  him  in 
Tajrlorville,  where  he  once  more  opened  a  gallery. 
He  leased  the  ground  and  erected  the  building  in 
which  he  is  now  located,  a  structure  suitable  for 
his  business,  and  supplied  with  all  modern  equip- 
ments and  accessories.  From  the  beginning  a  lib- 
eral patronage  has  been  accorded  him.  In  connec- 
tion with  photographing,  Mr.  Wheeler  does  all  lines 
of  portrait  work,  crayon,  pastel,  India  ink,  water 
colors  and  oil  portraits.  He  is  an  artist  of  no 
mean  merit,  in  fact  his  work  ranks  favorably  with 
that  of  our  large  cities,  and  in  consequence  of  its 
excellence  he  is  now  doing  a  good  business. 

Mr.  Wheeler  exercises  his  right  of  franchise  in 
support  of  the  Republican  party  and  is  a  stalwart 
advocate  of  its  principles,  but  has  never  sought  or 
desired  political  preferment.  He  manifests  an 
active  interest  in  all  that  pertains  to  the  welfare 
of  the  community,  and  gives  -his  support  for  the 
advancement  of  those  enterprises  calculated  to 
prove  of  public  benefit. 


JOY  K.  KESTER  is  a  public-spirited  citizen 
and  enterprising  farmer,  who  is  engaged  in 
agricultural  pursuits  on  section  3,  Stoning- 
ton  Township.  He  is  a  native  of  Indiana, 
having  been  born  in  Washington  County,  Sep- 
tember 8,  1846.  His  father,  William  Kester,  was 
also  a  native  of  the  Hoosier  State,  and  there  mar- 
ried Miss  Rebecca  Hall,  a  native  of  the  same  State 
and  county.  At  an  early  day  Mr.  Kester  came 
West  to  purchase  land,  and  was  taken  sick  and 
died  in  this  State.  He  was  taken  back  to  Indiana 
for  interment,  and  was  buried  in  Posey  Creek 
Cemetery,  Washington  County.  His  death  oc- 
curred in  tfce  year  1852.  His  wife  is  still  living 
and  is  yet  a  resident  of  Indiana.  They  were  the 
parents  of  four  children,  who  are  all  living.  Maria 
E.  is  the  wife  of  Peter  Hauger,  of  Washington 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


275 


County,  Ind.;  our  subject  is  the  next  in  order  of 
birth;  May  is  the  wife  of  Joel  P.  Grubb;  and 
William  D.  completes  the  family.  The  two  last- 
named  are  residents  of  Washington  County,  Ind. 

Until  reaching  his  twentieth  year,  Joy  K.  Kes- 
ter  was  employed  upon  his  father's  farm  in  the 
usual  manner  of  country  boys,  his  time  being  di- 
vided between  work  on  the  farm  and  in  attend- 
ance at  the  district  school.  On  the  llth  of  Oc- 
tober, 1866,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Sarah  A.  Smith,  who  is  a  daughter  of  George  M. 
and  Sarah  (Cathcart)  Smith.  Mrs.  Kester  was 
born  in  Washington  County,  Ind.,  where  she  grew 
to  womanhood. 

When  in  his  twenty-seventh  year  our  subject 
came  to  Christian  County  and  first  located  in  Tay- 
lorville.  After  living  there  some  years,  he  settled 
on  section  3,  where  he  still  continues  to  make  his 
home  and  owns  a  valuable  farm  of  two  hundred 
acres.  It  is  well  equipped  with  substantial  build- 
ings, good  fences  and  other  improvements.  It  is 
especially  adapted  to  stock-raising,  though  a  large 
share  of  it  is  under  cultivation.  The  owner  is 
numbered  among  the  most  practical  farmers  of 
the  vicinity,  and  keeps  fully  abreast  with  the  times 
in  modern  methods  of  farm  management.  He 
numbers  many  friends  in  this  locality,  and  is  con- 
ceded by  all  to  be  a  man  of  merit  and  unblem- 
ished character. 

The  union  of  our  subject  and  wife  has  been 
blessed  with  a  family  of  five  children.  Lorena  is 
the  wife  of  William  McCloskey,  who  resides  on  sec- 
tion 3  of  this  township;  William  died  at  the  age 
of  four  years,  and  was  buried  in  Sharpsburg  Ceme- 
tery; John  is  married  and  making  his  home  in 
Taylorville;  Charles,  the  youngest  son,  is  at  home; 
and  Ida  is  the  baby.  In  his  political  views, 
Mr.  Kester  is  a  Democrat.  He  has  held  the  office 
of  School  Director,  Township  Treasurer  and  Com- 
missioner of  Highways,  and  in  each  of  these  posi- 
tions he  has  shown  himself  devoted  to  the  inter- 
ests of  the  public,  and  has  tried  in  every  possible 
way  to  promote  their  welfare.  Also  he  holds  the 
office  of  Treasurer  of  the  Mosquito  Township  Mu- 
tual Insurance  Association.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows,  and,  relig- 
iously, both  he  and  his  wife  are  faithful  members 


of  the  Christian  Church.  It  is  to  such  enterpris- 
ing men  that  the  county  owes  her  prosperity  and 
development  from  her  former  wild  state,  and  Mr. 
Kester,  as  one  of  the  early  settlers,  deserves  a  rep- 
resentation in  the  records  of  the  pioneers. 


OBERT  A.  GRAY,  Supervisor  of  Mosquito 
Township,  is  engaged  in  carrying  on  his 
farm,  which  is  situated  on  section  33.  He 
is  one  of  the  well-to-do  and  influential 
agriculturists  of  this  vicinity,  and  has  been  a  res- 
ident of  the  county  for  some  twenty  years.  He 
has  served  in  many  public  positions  of  honor  with 
credit  to  himself  and  to  the  satisfaction  of  his 
constituents,  and  has  represented  this  district  in 
the  State  Legislature  for  two  terms  and  served  on 
a  number  of  important  committees. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  County  Donegal,  Ire- 
land, October  16,  1835.  His  father  was  likewise 
a  native  of  the  same  country,  descended  from  an 
old  Scotch  family  that  settled  in  Ireland  in  1542. 
The  Grays  of  Castle  Torras,  though  Protestants, 
were  always  celebrated  for  their  liberal  political 
views,  which  won  them  the  love  and  esteem  of 
their  Catholic  fellow-countrymen.  There  he  grew 
to  man's  estate  and  was  married  in  1834  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  Patton.  In  1836,  the  father,  Joseph 
Gray,  came  to  the  United  States  on  a  visit  to 
friends  in  Maryland  and  was  taken  sick  and  died 
in  Philadelphia  the  same  year.  His  wife  survived 
him  several  years,  and  died  in  1845. 

Our  subject  was  only  ten  3'ears  of  age  when  he 
was  left  an  orphan  by  the  death  of  his  mother,  and 
he  was  placed  in  charge  of  a  guardian,  who  robbed 
him  and  his  family  of  everything.  When  only 
eighteen  years  of  age  he  commenced  teaching,  and 
for  the  past  twenty-five  years  has  been  engaged 
as  an  educator  in  this  State.  In  1860  he  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Martha  Blackburn, 
who  was  born  in  Ireland. 

The  family  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gray  comprises 
eleven  children,  as  follows:  William  A.,  who  lives 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


in  Blue  Mound;  John  K.,  who  is  at  home;  Annie, 
wife  of  William  Wallie,  of  Stonington  Township; 
Joseph,  Maggie  I.,  Lizzie  M.,  Robert  H.,  Sarah, 
James  M.,  Frank  and  Edna,  who  complete  the 
family.  Robert  H.  and  Mary  are  deceased.  The 
parents  and  several  of  their  children  are  members 
of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church. 

Since  1874  Mr.  Gray  has  been  a  member  of  the 
Christian  County  Board  of  Supervisors  and  Chair- 
man of  the  Board.  He  has  filled  many  local  offi- 
ces, and  in  1885  was  elected  to  the  State  Legisla- 
ture. He  was  re-elected  to  that  important  posi- 
tion two  years  later,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Com- 
mittees on  Claims,  Education  and  Elections.  He 
is  a  well-educated  man  and  is  posted  on  all  public 
topics,  is  broad  in  his  views,  and  in  addition  to 
his  other  accomplishments  is  a  poet  of  no  mean 
degree.  He  is  from  the  county  in  Ireland  that 
produced  such  men  as  Gens.  Montgomery  and 
Carleton,  and  the  fathers  of  Presidents  Polk 
and  Buchanan,  and  also  John  C.  Calhoun.  In 
politics,  our  subject  is  a  Democrat,  and  socially  is 
a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity.  His  farm 
consists  of  two  hundred  acres,  which  are  well  culti- 
vated and  upon  which  is  a  substantial  residence. 
He  is  at  present  one  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of 
the  State  Historical  Library,  associated  with  Judge 
Lambert  Tree  and  Hon.  J.  N.  Pen-in. 


JOSIAH  T.  BAUER  is  one  of  the  wide-awake 
business  men  of  Stonington,  owning  and 
carrying   on    a  good    drug  store,  which  is 
well  equipped,  and  in  connection  with  this 
he  operates  a  general  merchandise  store.     He  mer- 
its   the    large    and    remunerative    trade  which  is 
given  him,  for  he  is  just  and  honorable  in  his  deal- 
ings with  his  many  patrons. 

Mr.  Bauer  is  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  born  in 
Northampton  County  November  13,  1851,  his 
parents  being  William  and  Lydia  (Miller)  Bauer. 
He  is  next  to  the  youngest  in  a  family  of  eight 
children.  Two  of  the  number  are  deceased,  Polly 


and  Marietta,  the  former  of  whom  died  in  in- 
fancy. James  E.  still  resides  on  the  old  homestead 
in  Pennsylvania;  Aaron  is  engaged  in  the  boot 
and  shoe  business  in  the  same  State;  Lucy  became 
the  wife  of  Frank  Kunkel,  a  boot  and  shoe  dealer 
of  Nazareth,  Pa.;  Charles  R..  a  retired  farmer,  re- 
sides in  Blue  Mound,  111.;  and  Andrew  F.  is  en- 
gaged in  general  merchandising  in  Butler  County, 
Neb.  The  father  of  these  children,  who  was  born 
in  the  Keystone  State,  was  a  weaver  by  trade.  He 
died  in  Pennsylvania,  at  the  age  of  fifty-four 
years.  He  was  a  fine  workman,  and  in  addition 
to  his  trade  owned  a  small  farm.  His  father  emi- 
grated to  the  United  States  from  Germany.  The 
mother  of  our  subject  was  also  born  in  the  same 
State,  and  her  death  occurred  at  about  the  age  of 
sixty-four.  Like  her  husband,  she  was  of  German 
extraction. 

Josiah  T.  Bauer  remained  with  his  parents  on 
their  farm  until  fifteen  years  of  age,  attending  the 
schools  of  the  neighborhood.  As  the  home  was 
broken  up  at  that  time,  he  worked  for  two  years 
by  the  month  for  farmers  during  the  summer,  and 
during  the  winter  was  given  the  privilege  of  at- 
tending school  by  working  morning  and  eve- 
ning for  his  board.  He  was  ambitious  and  made 
the  most  of  his  opportunities.  He  attended  the 
Keystone  State  Normal  School  of  his  native  State, 
at  Kutztown,  for  one, term,  after  which  he  began 
teaching,  and  continued  thus  engaged  fora  period 
of  eight  years  in  Pennsylvania.  In  1877  he  came 
to  Christian  County,  where  he  taught  school  for 
one  year.  In  the  spring  of  1878,  he  engaged  in 
business,  opening  a  drug  store  and  general  mer- 
chandise store  in  Stonington,  which  he  has  since 
conducted  successfully. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Bauer  was  celebrated  No- 
vember 8,  1882;  with  Miss  Katie  Smith,  whose  par- 
ents, George  and  Catherine  (Bowman)  Smith,  now 
deceased,  were  early  pioneers  of  this  county.  Two 
children  bless  the  union  of  our  subject  and  his 
wife,  Ralph  Stanley  and  Effle  Lucy,  who  are  bright 
and  interesting  children. 

As  Mr.  Bauer  was  well  known  for  many  years 
as  an  educator  and  promoter  of  good  schools,  it 
was  eminently  fitting  that  he  should  be  elected 
to  serve  in  the  capacity  of  School  Treasurer,  which 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


277 


office  lie  held  for  nine  years  in  this  district.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  in  good 
standing,  and  in  politics,  is  a  stanch  Republican. 
The  store  of  Mr.  Bauer  is  well  stocked  with  a  gen- 
eral line  of  drugs  and  merchandise,  in  which  he 
has  a  large  trade.  In  addition  to  this  business  he 
owns  two  hundred  and  thirteen  acres  of  valuable 
farm  land  adjoining  the  corporate  limits  of  Ston- 
ington,  besides  several  valuable  business  lots  and 
residences  in  Stonington.  Mrs.  Bauer  inherited 
one  hundred  acres  of  her  father's  estate.  In  ad- 
dition to  carrying  on  his  business,  our  subject 
manages  and  operates  his  farm. 


OSCAR  J.  OWEN  is  well  known   in  Stoning- 
ton Township  as  an  enterprising  agricul- 
turist and  good  citizen.     He  owns  a  well- 
improved  and  desirable  farm  on  section  5,  which 
has  been  his  home   for  many  years.     During  the 
late  war  he  enlisted  under  the  old  Stars  and  Stripes, 
and  suffered  much  in  the  cause  of  freedom. 

The  birth  of  Mr.  Owen  took  place  in  Washing- 
ton County,  Ohio,  on  the  27th  of  June,  1843.  His 
father,  James  Owen,  was  also  a  native  of  Washing- 
ton County,  born  March  22,  1808.  His  life  work 
was  that  of  a  farmer,  and  he  continued  to  reside 
in  his  native  State  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  his  sixty-fifth  year.  His  father  was  one  of  the 
early  settlers  of  Ohio,  going  there  when  quite 
a  young  man,  and  was  one  of  the  brave  de- 
fenders of  the  fort  at  Marietta  during  the  In- 
dian War.  The  Owen  family  is  of  Irish  ancestry, 
but  they  have  long  been  residents  of  the  United 
States.  Our  subject's  mother,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Catherine  Baldwin,  was  of  German  extraction, 
and  was  born  in  Washington  County,  Ohio,  May 
3,  1813.  She  was  sixty-four  years  old  at  the  time 
of  her  death,  and  lies  buried  by  her  husband  in 
the  cemetery  at  Lowell,  Ohio. 

James  and  Catherine  Owen  were  the  parents  of 
eight  children,  two  sons  and  six  daughters:  Vesta, 


who  died  in  infancy;  Jane,  who  died  when  about 
ten  years  of  age;  Lorinda,  wife  of  James  Wilson, 
an  Ohio  farmer;  Catherine,  who  became  the  wife 
of  Benjamin  Shattick,  a  resident  of  Washington 
County,  Ohio;  Beulah,  deceased,  wife  of  Charles 
Davis,  of  Ohio;  our  subject,  the.  next  in  order  of 
birth;  Angelina,  wife  of  Amos  Wilson,  a  farmer 
of  Nebraska;  and  Charles,  who  is  teaching  school 
in  Washington  County,  Ohio. 

Oscar  J.  Owen  remained  under  the  parental 
roof  until  eighteen  years  of  age,  when,  fired  by 
patriotism,  he  enlisted  as  a  member  of  Com- 
pany A,  Thirty-sixth  Ohio  Volunteers,  enteiing 
the  service  July  29,  1861.  In  the  battle  of  Chick- 
amauga,  he  received  a  wound  in  the  left  shoulder 
and  was  taken  to  the  Nashville  hospital.  Thence 
he  was  transferred  to  Louisville,  Ky.,  and  at  the 
end  of  three  months  returned  to  his  regiment. 
He  took  part  in  the  battles  of  Louisburg,  Va., 
Antietam,  Winchester,  Bull  Run,  and  many  lesser 
engagements.  On  the  expiration  of  his  three- 
years  term  of  service  he  received  an  honorable 
discharge  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  September  10,  1864, 
and  returned  to  his  home. 

During  the  winter  of  1865,  Mr.  Owen  engaged 
in  teaching  school,  and  in  the  spring  moved  to 
Christian  County.  He  engaged  in  farming 
and  teaching  for  several  years,  since  which 
time  he  has  given  his  whole  attention  to 
the  carrying  on  of  his  farm,  which  has  two 
hundred  and  forty  acres  within  its  limits.  The 
owner  has  developed  into  a  practical  farmer  and 
has  made  many  substantial  improvements  upon  the 
place,  which  is  considered  one  of  the  best  in  the 
township. 

A  marriage  ceremony  was  performed  October  5 , 
1865,  by  which  Miss  Mary  Wickens  became  the 
wife  of  our  subject.  She  was  born  February  25, 
1844,  in  Washington  County,  Ohio,  where  sho 
grew  to  womanhood.  Her  parents  were  George 
and  Rebecca  Ann  (Carlin)  Wickens.  The  former 
came  from  England  when  sixteen  years  of  age, 
and  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Washington 
County,  Ohio.  The  mother  was  of  Irish  and 
English  descent,  and  was  also  born  in  the  Buckeye 
State.  Four  children  have  been  born  to  our  sub- 
ject and  wife.  The  eldest,  Henry  M.,  is  principal 


278 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


of  the  Decatur  Business  University,  of  Decatur, 
111.;  Joseph  Irving  has  just  graduated  from  Shurt- 
leff  College,  at  Alton,  111.,  and  is  now  at  home  on 
the  farm,  but  expects  to  secure  a  professorship 
soon;  Jesse  Bell  is  a  student  in  Shurtleff  College; 
and  Harry  Roach  is  still  at  home. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Owen  and  their  three  eldest  chil- 
dren are  members  of  the  Missionary  Baptist 
Church  and  valued  workers  in  the  same.  Our 
subject  takes  quite  an  active  part  in  local  politics, 
being  a  true  Republican.  For  a  number  of  years 
he  has  served  in  the  capacity  of  School  Director, 
and  has  also  been  Commissioner  of  Highways. 
Fraternally,  he  belongs  to  Francis  M.  Long 
Post  No.  392,  G.  A.  R.,  of  Taylorville.  He  is 
honored  and  respected  by  his  friends  and  neigh- 
bors and  deserves  the  high  esteem  in  which  he  is 
held  by  all  having  the  pleasure  of  his  acquaintance. 


JOHN  NELSON  WADDELL,  an  honored 
veteran  of  the  late  war,  and  a  retired  farmer 
now  residing  in  Taylorville,  was  born  near 
Wheeling,  Ohio  County,  W.  Va.,  April  4, 
1841,  on  the  day  on  which  William  Henry  Harri- 
son passed  from  this  life.  His  parents,  James  and 
Jane  (McDonald)  AVaddell,  were  also  natives  of 
the  same  county.  In  1867,  they  removed  to  Wash- 
ington County,  Iowa,  where  their  last  days  were 
spent.  They  had  a  large  family  of  children, 
the  eldest  of  whom,  Rev.  William,  came  to  Illinois 
about  1853,  and  preached  for  the  Spring  Creek 
church  of  the  United  Presbyterian  denomination. 
He  did  much  to  establish  the  present  church,  but 
died  while  engaged  in  this  work  in  his  twenty- 
seventh  year,  and  was  buried  in  Hall  Cemetery, 
one  mile  east  of  Taylorville.  Archibald  came  to 
the  Waddell  farm  in  Christian  County  in  1850, 
and  there  made  his  home  until  1860,  being  exten- 
sively engaged  in  stock-dealing.  In  1860,  how- 
ever, he  returned  to  Virginia,  but  is  now  living 
in  Bureau  County,  111.  Joseph  B.  was  a  student 
in  the  Theological  Seminary  of  Allegheny,  Pa., 


but  left  the  college  to  join  the  Christian  Com- 
mission with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  during  the 
late  war.  He  afterwards  finished  his  course  of 
study,  and  died  while  engaged  in  ministerial  work 
in  Midway,  Pa.,  at  the  age  of  forty-eight.  James 
V.  enlisted  in  the  Twelfth  West  Virginia  Infantry 
during  the  late  war,  but  was  rejected,  and  then 
joined  the  Fourteenth  Pennsylvania  Cavalry.  He 
rose  from  the  ranks  to  be  first  Sergeant, and  at  the 
age  of  twenty-three  was  killed  while  making  a 
charge  at  the  battle  of  White  Sulphur  Springs, 
August  26,  1863.  The  three  daughters  of  Ike 
Waddell  family  are  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Alex  Duff, 
of  Washington,  Iowa;  Maggie,  Widow  of  Rev.  A. 
Conner,  of  Washington,  Iowa,  and  now  a  resident 
of  Minneapolis.  Minn.;  and  Belle,  wife  of  Rev. 
Ferris  Brown,  of  New  Concord,  Ohio.  All  came 
to  Christian  County  in  the  '50s,  and  all  were 
teachers  in  May  Township.  At  one  time  nine 
families  of  Waddells  lived  in  that  township. 

We  now  take  up  the  personal  history  of  our 
subject,  who  remained  upon  the  home  farm  until 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  when,  on  the  14th  of 
August,  1862,  he  entered  the  service  of  his  country 
as  a  member  of  Company  D,  Twelfth  West  Vir- 
ginia Infantry,  under  Col.  W.  D.  Curtis.  He  did 
service  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  and  in  front  of 
Petersburg  and  Richmond.  He  went  to  Appo- 
mattox,  and  continued  in  active  service  until  after 
the  close  of  the  war.  For  a  while  he  was  on  de- 
tached duty  in  the'hospital  as  clerk  at  Annapolis, 
Md.,  and  at  Parkersburg,  W.  Va.,  and  was  clerk  in 
the  Provost-Marshal's  office  in  Martinsburg,  W. 
Va.,  for  four  months.  On  the  15th  of  March,  1865, 
he  reported  to  his  regiment  at  Richmond,  and 
was  with  the  troops  during  the  battles  of  Hatchie's 
Run,  Fort  Gregg,  Farmville  and  Appomattox.  In 
June,  1865,  He  was  honorably  discharged,  after 
about  three  years  of  faithful  service,  for  the  war 
was  now  over  and  the  Stars  and  Stripes  proudly 
floated  over  a  united  Nation. 

Mr.  Waddell  at  once  returned  to  his  home, 
but  in  1866  came  to  Christian  County.  He,  how- 
ever, went  back  to  his  old  home,  and  on  the  17th 
of  January,  1867,  near  Wheeling,  was  celebrated 
his  marriage  with  Adessa  Wilson,  a  native  of  that 
State.  He  brought  his  bride  to  Illinois,  and  was 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


279 


also  nccompanied  by  his  two  brothers,  Benjamin 
E.,  now  of  Willey  Station,  and  Thomas  J.,  of 
Taylorville.  Each  had  a  farm  of  two  hundred 
acres  in  May  Township,  which  had  been  purchased 
in  1850  by  their  father.  Mr.  Waddell  at  once  be- 
gan the  development  of  the  land,  and  his  arduous 
labors  soon  transformed  it  into  a  valuable  farm. 
In  connection  with  its  cultivation,  lie  also  engaged 
extensively  in  raising  and  breeding  stock.  Pros- 
perity came  to  him  as  the  years  passed,  and  though 
he  began  life  empty-handed  he  is  now  enabled  to 
live  retired  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  comfortable 
competence.  He  still  owns  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  of  the  home  farm. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Waddell  are  the  parents  of  four 
children:  Millie,  now  the  wife  of  Charles  Hunter, 
a  farmer  of  Locust  Township;  Anna;  J.  Clark  and 
Jennie.  In  politics,  our  subject  is  a  Republican 
and  takes  an  active  interest  in  the  success  of  his 
party.  Socially,  he  is  a  member  of  Francis  M. 
Long  Post  No.  392,  G.  A.  R.  He  has  long  been  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  for  ten 
years  has  served  as  Elder.  True  to  his  country  in 
her  hour  of  peril,  he  is  alike  faithful  in  times  of 
peace,  and  in  Mr.  Waddell  the  community  finds  a 
valued  citizen. 


&jjj  LBERT  T.  KINNEY,  State  Agent  of  the 
.(?/  I  I'hcnix  Insurance  Company,  is  one  of 

|/iii  Taylorville's  leading  citizens.  To  her 
^j  prominent  business  men  the  prosperity  of 
a  city  is  always  due,  for  their  enterprise  and  energy 
are  the  materials  of  which  it  is  built.  Our  subject 
is  connected  with  several  of  the  most  important 
concerns  of  the  county  seat,  and  besides  his  insur- 
ance business  he  is  a  member  of  the  Taylorville 
Coal  Company,  and  is  an  extensive  stock  dealer. 

Mr.  Kinney  is  a  native  of  the  Empire  State, 
having  been  born  in  St.  Lawrence  County,  on  the 
18th  of  October,  1846,  and  in  the  usual  man- 
ner of  farmer  lads  he  spent  his  boyhood  days  midst 
play  and  work.  His  education  was  acquired  in 


the  country  schools  and  supplemented  by  study 
in  the  academy  at  Ft.  Covington.  At  the  age 
of  seventeen  years  he  began  teaching  in  Franklin 
County,  and  was  there  employed  in  that  capacity 
until  1866.  The  year  just  mentioned  witnessed 
his  arrival  in  ^  Illinois,  where  he  determined  to 
seek  a  home  and  fortune.  For  a  time  he  taught 
school  in  Whiteside  County,  and  in  1867  began 
his  connection  with  the  fire  insurance  business. 
He  became  an  agent  for  the  Rockford  Company, 
of  Rockford.  111.,  and  made  that  city  his  home  un- 
til 1871,  when  he  came  to  Taylorville  as  solicitor 
for  that  company  and  established  their  business  at 
this  place.  He  continued  his  connection  with  the 
Rockford  Company  until  July,  1879,  having  a 
district  agency  with  some  eight  or  ten  men  under 
his  charge.  On  the  expiration  of  that  period  lie 
severed  his  connection  with  the  Rockford,  and  be- 
came special  agent  for  the  Phenix  Fire  Insurance 
Company,  having  charge  of  all  the  farm  business  in 
the  State.  He  has  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
local  agencies  in  Illinois  and  several  district 
agencies.  The  company  receives  from  $250,000 
to  $300,000  annually  in  premiums  from  his  de- 
partment of  the  business  in  Illinois.  Under  the 
able  management  of  our  subject  the  business  is  in- 
creasing each  year.  A  large  part  of  his  time  is 
spent  on  the  road,  and  he  does  all  of  the  adjusting 
in  his  department.  He  employs  about  thirty-five 
men  in  the  office  and  as  solicitors.  The  interests 
of  his  fire  insurance  company  will  never  suffer 
at  the  hands  of  Mr.  Kinney,  for  his  employers  will 
ever  find  him  most  trustworthy  and  efficient. 

In  June,  1870,  in  Clinton,  111.,  our  subject  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Frances  Barnett,  a 
native  of  Clinton.  She  died  July  29,  1892,  leav- 
ing three  sons:  Will,  who  is  engaged  in  stock- 
dealing  and  in  the  insurance  business  with  his  fa- 
ther; Fred  and  Lloyd.  Mr.  Kinney  is  a  Mason, 
belonging  to  the  Blue  Lodge  and  Chapter  of  Taj'- 
lorville,  and  to  Elwood  Commandery,  No.  6,.K.  T., 
of  Springfield.  In  politics  he  is  a  stalwart  sup- 
porter of  Republican  principles,  and  is  not  afraid 
to  let  the  people  know  where  he  stands.  Firm 
in  his  convictions,  he  supports  his  opinions  of 
what  he  believes  to  be  right  or  wrong  without 
fear  or  favor. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


In  his  business  affairs,  Mr.  Kinney  has  met  with 
success.  He  is  now  the  owner  of  three  good 
farms,  one  of  one  hundred  and  forty,  and  two 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty,  one  of  the  latter  being 
in  De  Kalb  County.  On  his  farms  he  engages  in 
breeding  standard-bred  horses,  but  the  business  is 
practically  managed  by  his  eldest  son.  He  was  also 
connected  with  the  Taylorville  Coal  Compan}', 
of  which  he  was  one  of  the  originators,  and  of 
which  he  served  as  President  for  two  years.  It 
is  characteristic  of  Mr.  Kinney  that  whatever  he 
undertakes  he  carries  forward  to  a  successful  com- 
pletion, overcoming  all  difficulties  and  obstacles 
in  his  path  by  determined  energy  and  enterprise. 
He  has  frequently  served  as  a  member  of  the  City 
Council,  is  at  present  representing  his  ward  in 
that  body,  and  is  Chairman  of  several  important 
committees. 


JOSEPH  SIMONS,  one   of   the  enterprising 
and  public-spirited  citizens  of  Assumption, 
Christian   County,   has  been   a   resident  of 
this    locality    for  twenty-eight   years.     He 
has    retired    from  commercial  life  and  now  only 
looks  after  his  various  investments  in  real  estate. 
He  is  a  self-made  man,  having  started  out  in  life 
almost  entirely  without  capital,  and  he  has  made  a 
considerable  fortune. 

Mr.  Simons  is  a  native  of  Prussia,  his  birth  hav-' 
ing  occurred  August  20,  1832.  His  youth  was 
spent  in  his  native  land,  where  he  received  a  good 
education  in  his  mother  tongue.  He  has  acquired 
the  English  language  since  coming  to  the  United 
States.  He  served  an  apprenticeship  and  learned 
the  baker's  trade  in  Germany,  where  he  afterwards 
followed  the  business  for  two  years.  Being  an 
ambitious  young  man,  he  concluded  to  try  his 
fortune  in  the  New  World,  and  in  1857  took  pass- 
age in  a  sailing-vessel,  going  from  Antwerp  to 
New  York.  He  arrived  at  his  destination  after 
the  lapse  of  five  weeks,  during  which  time  the 
vessel  encountered  a  very  severe  storm  fortweuty-! 


two  days.  Mr.  Simons  at  once  proceeded  to  Illi- 
nois, and  at  first  found  work  at  Aurora,  on  the 
seminary,  which  was  then  in  course  of  construction. 
The  following  few  months  of  his  life  were  spent 
on  the  farm,  as  he  hired  out  for  the  winter  to  a 
neighboring  farmer.  In  1858,  Mr.  Simons  went 
to  Sangamon  County,  where  he  spent  four  years 
also  working  on  a  farm. 

In  August,  1862,  our  subject  enlisted  in  de- 
fense of  the  country  of  his  adoption,  becoming 
a  member  of  Company  C,  One  Hundred  and  Four- 
teenth Illinois  Infantry,  and  was  in  the  service 
until  lie  received  an  honorable  discharge  at  the 
close  of  the  war,  in  July,  1865,  being  mustered 
out  at  Camp  Butler,  Springfield,  111.  Mr.  Simons 
saw  much  active  service,  and  with  his  regiment 
took  part  in  a  number  of  very  important  engage- 
ments. He  was  all  through  the  Vicksburg  cam- 
paign, and  was  present  at  the  surrender  of  the 
stronghold,  July  4,  1863.  He  was  in  the  two 
battles  at  Jackson,  Miss.,  and  met  with  a  severe 
accident  in  the  battle  of  Guntown,  June  12,  1864, 
when  his  arm  was  shattered  by  a  musket  ball.  The 
member  was  amputated  above  the  elbow  a  few 
days  later.  On  account  of  being  disabled  he  was 
taken  prisoner  a  few  days  after  the  battle,  and 
the  operation  was  performed  by  a  Confederate 
surgeon  in  the  hospital  at  Mobile,  Ala.  After  his 
partial  recovery  he  was  sent  to  Cihaby,  and  after- 
wards to  Audersonville  Prison,  being  confined  in 
the  last-named  until  the  close  of  the  war.  Upon 
being  released  he  made  his  way  back  to  Vicksburg, 
in  which  city  he  was  on  the  night  of  President 
Lincoln's  assassination,  April  14,  1865. 

Mr.  Simons  embarked  in  the  restaurant  business 
soon  after  his  return  from  the  South,  in  Assump- 
tion, which  was  then  only  a  small  village.  From 
year  to  year  he  increased  the  business  and  was  very 
successful  for  many  years.  In  1880,  he  sold  out 
his  interest,  and  since  that  time  has  attended  to 
investments  in  real  estate.  In  addition  to  his 
restaurant,  he  was  for  a  few  years  also  engaged  in 
the  grocery  business.  A  number  of  years  ago  Mr. 
Simons  purchased  a  tract  of  land  near  the  village, 
comprising  two  hundred  and  sixty-six  acres.  Upon 
this  place  he  has  made  many  improvements  and 
has  since  bought  another  farm  of  one  hundred  and 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


281 


sixty  acres,  which  he  has  also  placed  under  good 
cultivation  and  improved.  Thus  he  is  the  owner  of 
four  hundred  and  twenty-six  acres  of  valuable 
farm  land  in  Assumption  Township.  He  has  also 
erected  four  business  houses  in  the  village,  two  of 
them  being  substantial  brick  buildings.  He  also 
owns  a  fourth  interest  in  the  Opera  House,  and  a 
neat  modern  residence  which  he  occupies. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Simons  was  celebrated 
November  6,  1867,  when  Miss  Flora  Bickner 
became  his  wife.  She  is  a  native  of  New  York, 
and  came  to  Illinois  when  a  child  with  her  father, 
Edward  Bickner,  who  was  one  of  the  earliest 
settlers  of  this  county.  By  the  union  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Simons  have  been  born  five  children.  Jennie 
is  the  wife  of  Michael  Donovan, of  Assumption; 
Joseph  holds  a  good  business  position  in  Chicago; 
Jacob  lives  at  home;  and  Eliza  and  Willie  complete 
the  family.  Our  subject,  his  wife  and  children 
are  all  members  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

Mr.  Simons  cast  his  ballot  in  favor  of  the  Dem- 
ocratic party,  and  has  been  several  times  elected  to 
fill  local  positions  of  responsibility  and  trust.  He 
is  weil  known  in  this  and  neighboring  counties, 
and  well  merits  the  reputation  he  bears  as  a  man 
of  unblemished  honor  and  upright  character.  -  He 
has  ever  been  found  on  the  side  of  progress,  and 
lias  been  no  small  factor  in  the  development  of 
Christian  County. 


eHARLES  H.  STOCKON.     For  over  twenty 
years  Mr.  Stockon  has  been  identified  with 
the  progress  of  Christian  County,  and  has 
long  been  accounted  one  of  her  best  citizens.    For 
the  past  eleven  years  his  home  has  been  in  Bear 
Creek  Township,  where  he  is  engaged   in  general 
farming  and  stock-raising. 

Chautauqua  County,  N.  Y.,  was  the  place  of  our 
subject's  birth,  which  occurred  July  10,  1838. 
His  parents  were  Charles  II.  and  Jane  (Winchell) 
Stockon.  The  paternal  grandfather  is  believed  to 
have  emigrated  to  America  from  tlie  northern  part 
13 


of  Ireland,  and  lived  to  an  extreme  old  age.  The 
mother  of  our  subject  was  the  daughter  of  Albert 
Winchell,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  who  also  lived 
to  a  good  old  age,  being  ninety-one  years  old  at 
the  time  of  his  death.  Charles  H.  Stockon  was 
born  in  Connecticut,  while  his  wife  was  a  native 
of  Lowell,  Mass. 

In  1845,  the  father  removed  to  Ohio,  and  en- 
gaged in  the  mercantile  business  at  Hagerstown. 
This  enterprise  he  conducted  successfully  for  about 
fifteen  years  in  that  location.  Thence  he  removed 
to  Moscow,  Iowa,  there  engaging  in  the  same  line 
of  trade  until  he  was  cut  down  by  the  hand  of 
Deatli  in  the  prime  of  manhood,  being  only  forty- 
four  years  of  age.  The  date  of  his  demise  is  1862, 
and  after  surviving  her  husband  nearly  three  de- 
cades, Mrs.  Stockon  passed  from  the  scenes  of  this 
life,  in  1891.  when  nearly  eight3'-three  years  of  age. 
She  was  a  faithful  wife  and  mother,  and  was  for 
years  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church.  Of  her 
three  sons  and  two  daughters,  three  are  yet  liv- 
ing: Martha  I.,  who  married  Dr.  James  Cottor, 
now  deceased,  and  formerly  of  Sacramento,  Cal.; 
Mary  J.,  who  is  now  Mrs.  John  Williams,  and  also 
lives  in  Sacramento;  and  Charles  H.,  our  subject, 
who  is  the  youngest  of  those  living. 

In  his  seventh  year  the  subject  of  this  sketch  re- 
moved from  the  Empire  State  with  his  parents  to 
Ohio,  and  lived  in  Hagerstown  until  he  arrived  at 
mature  years.  In  1857,  he  went  to  Iowa,  and  en- 
tered the  store  conducted  by  his  father,  with 
whom  he  remained  for  four  years.  In  April,  1861, 
he  was  among  the  first  to  enlist  for  his  country's 
defense.  He  became  a  member  of  Company  A, 
First  Iowa  Infantry,  serving  with  them  for  four 
months.  He  participated  in  the  battle  of  Wilson 
Creek,  and  the  engagement  of  Bryce  Springs.  In 
the  former  he  was  wounded  and  returned  home. 
He  was  again  emplo3red  in  his  father's  store  until 
1872,  when  he  came  to  this  county.  Some  ten 
years  later  he  became  the  owner  of  ninety  acres  of 
land  in  Bear  Creek  Township,  on  which  is  still  his 
home.  He  has  extended  his  domains,  adding  a 
tract  of  twenty  acres  to  his  original  farm. 

On  the  27th  of  August,  1861,  Mr.  Stockon  mar- 
ried Miss  Mary  L.  Slaton.  Three  children  were 
born  of  this  union:  Ernest  E.,  Charles  H.,  and  oue 


282 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


who  died  in  infancy.  The  eldest  son,  Ernest  E., 
married  Miss  Annie  Stamm,  and  resides  on  a  part 
of  his  father's  farm.  He  is  the  father  of  five  chil- 
dren: Ophelia,  Walter,  Golda,  Cora  and  Myrtie. 

Socially,  Mr.  Stockon  is  a  member  of  Higgins 
Post  No.  400,  G.  A.  R.,  at  Palmer.  For  seven 
years  he  served  as  Supervisor  of  his  township,  to 
the  satisfaction  of  his  friends  and  neighbors,  and 
also  occupied  the  position  of  Assessor  for  two 
years.  In  his  various  business  enterprises,  Mr. 
Stockon  has  been  very  successful  and  has  been  of 
late  years  dealing  considerably  in  live  stock. 


SYLVESTER  SCHRANTZ,  one  of  the  most 
enterprising  agriculturists  of   Stonington 
Township,  is  the  owner  of  one  of  the  best- 
improved  farms  in  the  county  and  which 
is  situated  on  -section  8.     His  earliest  ancestors  in 
America  were  natives  of  Switzerland,  who  emi- 
grated in  1745.     Since  that  time  the  descendants 
have  been  stanch  and  true  patriots  of  their  adopted 
country. 

The  birth  of  Mr.  Schrantz  occurred  February  28, 
1847,  in  Canton,  Ohio,  his  parents  being  Ephraim 
and  Nancy  (Mohler)  Schrantz.  The  father  was  a 
native  of  Lancaster  County,  Pa.  His  great-grand- 
father, John  Schrantz,  was  a  native  of  the  canton 
of  Berne,  Switzerland,  and,  as  previously  stated,  lo- 
cated in  America  in  Colonial  days.  With  his  pa- 
rents our  subject's  father  removed  to  Ohio,  and 
settled  on  a  farm  near  Canton,  where  he  remained 
until  1867.  He  then  made  a  settlement  in  this 
count}',  and  purchased  seven  hundred  acres  of  wild 
land  in  Stonington  Township,  paying  at  the  rate 
of  $7  per  acre.  The  remainder  of  his  life  he  de- 
voted to  the  cultivation  and  improvement  of  this 
land.  He  died  June  24,  1892,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
nine  years,  and  lies  buried  in  Oaklawn  Cemetery, 
in  Taylorville.  In  politics,  he  was  a  Republican 
and  was  a  much  respected  early  settler  of  these 
parts.  His  land  and  property  he  divided  among 


his  children.  His  father  was  an  Advocate  Judge 
of  Stark  County,  Ohio,  at  the  time  of  his  death 
and  was  a  Captain  in  the  Mexican  War.  Our  sub- 
ject's mother  was  also  born  in  Lancaster  County, 
Pa.,  and  is  still  living,  her  home  being  in  Stoning- 
ton. 

Sylvester  Schrantz  is  one  of  five  children.  The 
others  are  still  living  and  are  as  follows:  Sy villa, 
the  wife  of  B.  F.  Young,  a  well-to-do  farmer  of 
Stonington  Township;  Wilson,  Lee  and  John,  who 
are  also  engaged  in  farming  in  the  same  township. 
Remaining  witli  his  parents  on  the  home  farm,  our 
subject's  time  was  occupied  until  his  seventeenth 
year  iu  farm  duties  and  in  attending  the  common 
schools.  On  the  29th  of  February,  1864,  he  joined 
Company  A,  Nineteenth  Ohio  Infantry,  and  served 
until  May  27,  1864.  He  was  captured  at  the  bat- 
tle of  New  Hope,  and  was  taken  to  Andersonville 
Prison,  where  he  was  held  until  the  13th  of  Sep- 
tember. He  was  then  transferred  to  the  Charles- 
ton prison,  there  kept  until  October  15,  and  thence 
removed  to  Florence.  In  the  latter  prison  he  re- 
mained until  December  1,  when  he  was  paroled  at 
Charleston.  He  was  then  so  weak  that  he  could 
not  walk,  and  was  left  lying  in  a  lumber-yard  with 
the  dead  and  dying.  The  Sisters  of  Charity  had 
him  taken  to  a  hospita!,where  he  partially  regained 
his  health  and  strength.  With  about  sixty  others 
he  was  then  taken  by  the  rebels  and  placed  upon 
boats  to  be  sent  to  their  parole  ship.  These  poor 
soldiers,  still  weak  and  exhausted,  were  exposed 
all  night  to  the  weather,  and  with  the  exception  of 
fifteen  they  all  died  from  the  result.  Only  a  few 
days  had  passed  when  there  were  none  living  of 
the  number  with  the  exception  of  our  subject  and 
one  comrade.  Mr.  Schrantz  was  next  taken  to  the 
St.  John's  College  Hospital,  at  Annapolis,  Md., 
where  he  stayed  for  about  two  months.  After  a 
furlough  of  ninety  days  at  home,  he  went  to  Camp 
Chase,  Ohio,  where  he  received  an  honorable  dis- 
charge June  25,  1865. 

Returning  to  the  old  farm,  our  subject  attended 
school  at  Greensburg  Seminary  until  the  fall  of 
1866,  when  he  came  to  Christian  County.  He 
continued  to  live  at  home  until  the  fall  of  1870, 
when  he  came  to  the  farm  on  which  he  now  re- 
sides, a  portion  of  which  had  been  given  him  by 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


his  father.  The  farm  now  comprises  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres,  which  are  well  managed  and  thor- 
oughly cultivated  by  the  owner,  who  has  practical 
and  progressive  ideas  on  farm  work. 

On  the  4th  of  September,  1873,  Mr.  Schrantz 
and  Miss  Lovine  Waltz  were  united  in  marriage. 
The  lady  was  born  in  Medina  County,  Ohio,  and 
by  her  marriage  has  become  the  mother  of  two 
children,  a  son  and  a  daughter.  Brace  D.  is  a 
highly  educated  young  man  and  has  taught  school 
in  this  community.  Jessie  M.  has  also  been  given 
a  superior  education  and  is  an  accomplished 
musician.  The  family  is  well  received  in  social 
circles  of  the  neighborhood.  In  politics,  Mr. 
Schrantz  is  a  loyal  Republican,  and,  fraternally, 
holds  membership  with  Francis  M.  Long  Post  No. 
392,  G.  A.  R.,  of  Taylorville. 


(fpN&  AMUEL  M.  NEEL  is  one  of  the  early  set- 
^^£  tiers  of  Stonington  Township,  and  has  re- 
llL^j|  sided  on  section  15  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century.  At  the  time  of  his  arrival  in  the 
township  the  place  was  a  swamp  and  in  a  nearly 
wild  condition.  During  the  lapse  of  time  this  has 
been  changed,  until  to-day  it  is  one  of  the  best 
agricultural  districts  in  the  county.  The  birth  of 
our  subject  occurred  April  1,  1831,  in  Lancaster 
County,  Pa.  His  parents  were  Hugh  and  Mary 
(Neeper)  Neel.  The  father  was  also  a  native  of 
Lancaster  County,  his  birth  occurring  in  the  same 
house  in  which  occurred  the  birth  of  our  subject. 
In  the  Keystone  State  he  was  engaged  in  farming, 
and  there  made  his  home  until  forty-seven  years 
of  age.  He  removed  to  Baltimore  County,  Md., 
at  that  time  and  purchased  a  farm,  which  he  cul- 
tivated until  his  death,  when  in  his  sixt3'-eighth 
year.  He  is  buried  in  the  Reisterstown  Cemetery, 
in  Baltimore  County,  Md.  In  politics,  he  was  an 
Old-line  Whig.  His  father  served  in  the  War  of 
1812,  and  was  also  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  but 
was  of  Scotch  parentage. 

The  mother  of  our  subject  was  born  and  grew 


to  womanhood  in  Lancaster  County,  where  her 
marriage  was  celebrated.  Her  father  was  a  native 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  participated  in  the  War  of 
1812.  She  passed  from  this  life  in  Baltimore 
County,  at  the  age  of  eighty-five  years,  and  lies 
buried  by  the  side  of  her  husband.  By  her  mar- 
riage she  became  the  mother  of  six  children,  four 
sons  and  two  daughters.  Thomas  died  when  thirty 
3'ears  of  age;  Samuel  M.  is  next  in  order  of  birth; 
Martha  Jane  became  the  wife  of  Washington  Gore, 
who  is  a  farmer  of  Baltimore  County,  Md.;  Bcckie, 
John  and  Jo  are  unmarried  and  living  on  the  old 
homestead  in  Maryland. 

The  boyhood  of  our  subject  was  passed  on  his 
father's  farm,  and  his  education  was  that  of  the 
common  schools  of  the  neighborhood.  He  con- 
tinued to  make  his  home  with  his  parents  until 
about  thirty  years  of  age,  when,  in  October,  1861, 
he  chose  for  his  life  companion  Miss  Sarah  Ann 
Streveg,  who  has  been  the  mother  of  three  chil- 
dren: Thomas,  who  died  at  the  age  of  eight  years; 
Mary,  wife  of  Henry  Bloom,  a  farmer  of  this 
county,  who  has  one  son,  Samuel  Neel;  and  one 
child  who  died  in  infancy. 

After  his  marriage  Mr.  Neel  continued  to  work 
for  his  father  for  some  seven  years,  receiving  for 
his  services  $100  per  year.  He  was  careful  and  sav- 
ing of  his  means,  for  it  was  his  intention  to  invest 
his  money  in  Western  land.  Accordingly,  in  1868, 
he  came  to  Illinois  and  after  looking  about  for  a 
suitable  place  of  settlement  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  it  would  be  well  to  settle  in  Christian  County. 
He  invested  his  little  capital  in  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  wild  prairie  land.  His  prospects 
were  rather  discouraging,  for  the  country  was 
little  better  than  a  swamp  and  bore  little  promise 
of  the  great  future  which  was  in  store  for  it.  He 
was  not  daunted  by  the  hardships  and  hard  work 
he  saw  before  him,  but  went  to  work  with  energy 
and  fortitude  to  overcome  the  obstacles  in  his 
pathway.  He  has  risen  to  a  position  of  compara- 
tive independence  and  now  takes  rank  with  the 
prosperous  farmers  of  the  county.  His  farm,  which 
yields  abundant  crops,  covers  two  hundred  and 
forty  acres  and  has  had  many  improvements 
placed  upon  it. 

A  true  patriot  and  loyal  citizen,  Mr.  Neel   dis- 


284 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


charges  his  duties  as  such,  but  has  never  been  pre- 
vailed upon  to  accept  official  honors.  In  his  polit- 
ical faith  he  is  a  firm  Republican.  His  first  ballot 
was  cast  for  Fremont.  Religiously,  he  has  been  for 
many  years  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church, 
and  is  a  man  who  is  respected  by  all  who  have  the 
pleasure  of  his  acquaintance  as  one  of  true  worth 
and  sterling  manhood. 


SETER  MICHELS,  who  is  now  living  a  re- 
tired life  in  Taylorville,  was  born  Decem- 
ber 26,  1824,  in  Polch,  in  the  Rhenish 
province  of  Prussia,  between  the  Rhine 
and  Moselle  Rivers.  His  brother  Anthony  came 
to  America  in  1843  and  established  himself  in 
business  as  a  carpenter  in  Taylorville.  Nine  years 
later  Peter  followed  him  to  the  New  World,  and 
on  the  25th  of  May,  1852,  arrived  in  Springfield. 
He  at  once  came  to  Taylorville,  where  he  joined 
his  brother.  He  had  been  reared  to  agricultural 
pursuits,  but  for  two  years  he  worked  with  his 
brother  at  the  carpenter's  trade  and  also  engaged 
in  well-digging.  Thomas  Cheney,  who  could  ob- 
tain no  one  to  dig  a  well,  finally  asked  Mr.  Mi- 
chels  to  perform  the  task.  Our  subject  consented 
to  undertake  it,  and  finding  it  to  be  a  paying  bus- 
iness continued  it  for  fifteen  years. 

Mr.  Michels  had  about  $300  when  he  came  to 
this  county,  which  he  invested  in  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  of  land  northwest  of  the  city. 
While  engaged  in  well-digging  he  made  from  $6 
to  $14  per  day,  and  with  the  capital  he  acquired 
he  also  made  other  purchases  of  real  estate.  He 
erected  a  business  house  on  the  north  side  of  the 
square,  now  used  as  a  saloon,  and  also  the  store 
occupied  by  Allmau's  meat-market.  Altogether 
he  has  four  dwellings  and  two  business  houses  in 
Taylorville.  His  own  residence,  a  fine  brick  struc- 
ture, is  in  the  midst  of  a  half-block  of  ground. 
Mr.  Michels  also  has  two  hundred  acres  of  land  in 
May  Township,  and  sixty  acres  of  timber-land. 
On  the  25th  of  May,  1852,  our  subject  was 


united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Catherine  Weiler, 
who  was  reared  in  the  same  locality  as  her  husband, 
their  homes  being  only  two  miles  apart,  and  on 
the  same  vessel,  the  "Eastern  Queen,"  crossed  the 
Atlantic  with  him.  They  sailed  from  Havre, 
France,  and  after  twenty-six  days  reached  the 
shores  of  the  New  World.  Their  marriage  was 
celebrated  the  day  after  their  arrival  in  Spring- 
field. Mrs.  Michels  was  born  near  Coblentz,  June 
27,  1831,  and  by  her  marriage  has  become  the 
mother  of  five  children,  who  are  yet  living. 
Amelia  Louise  is  now  the  wife  of  Anthony  Wog- 
getzer,  of  Taylorville,  by  whom  she  has  five  chil- 
dren; Margaret  is  the  wife  of  Sylvester  Patterson, 
of  Taylorville,  and  they  have  one  child;  William 
Sebastian  Julius,  County  Surveyor  of  Christian 
County  and  a  resident  of  Taylorville,  married  Miss 
Nellie  Sheehan,  and  they  have  one  child;  Katie 
was  educated  in  the  public  schools  and  in  St.  Ur- 
suline's  Convent  of  Springfield;  and  Joseph  com- 
pletes the  family.  They  also  lost  six  children  in 
early  childheod. 

Mr.  Michels  is  a  stalwart  Democrat  in  politics 
and  a  warm  supporter  of  President  Cleveland. 
He  and  his  wife  are  faithful  members  of  the  Cath- 
olic Church  and  have  reared  their  children  under 
its  auspices.  Mr.  Michels  need  never  regret  his 
emigration  to  America,  for  here  he  has  found  a 
comfortable  home,  and  his  labors  have  been  blessed 
with  a  handsome  competence. 


TEPIIEN  WILLEY,  deceased,  was  a  prom- 
inent man  and  pioneer  citizen  of  Christian 
Count}'.  For  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century 
was  active  in  everything  pertaining  to 
the  good  of  the  community  in  which  he  dwelt,  and 
was  devoted  to  the  advancement  of  every  measure 
tending  to  benefit  his  fellow-men. 

The  birth  of  our  subject  occurred  June  7,  1827, 
in  Hamilton  County,  Ohio,  where  he  grew  to  man- 
hood. With  his  parents  he  came  to  Illinois  in 
1843,  and  at  once  located  in  Christian  County. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


He  was  of  French  and  English  descent.  On  the 
26th  of  December,  1849,  he  married  Miss  Nancy 
Blunt,  who  was  born  March  10,  1831,  in  Tennessee, 
and  came  to  this  county  with  her  father  in  her 
girlhood.  Mr.  Willey  began  life  without  means, 
but  possessed  of  determination  and  energy,  and 
made  a  grand  success  of  his  various  enterprises. 
After  his  marriage  he  devoted  himself  to  the  culti- 
vation of  a  farm  during  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
He  accumulated  a  valuable  estate,  and  at  the  time 
of  his  death,  which,  occurred  December  10,  1873, 
possessed  seven  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  the 
choicest  land  in  the  county.  He  was  enterprising 
and  ahead  of  the  times  in  his  methods  of  con- 
ducting his  farm,  and  was  the  first  man  to  intro- 
duce Shorthorn  cattle  into  the  county,  and  was 
also  the  first  to  purchase  the  McGee  hogs. 

The  wife  of  Mr.  Willey  was  of  English  and 
Irish  extraction  and  by  her  marriage  became  the 
mother  of  two  children,  both  of  whom  are  still 
living.  Mary  was  born  March  15,  1851,  in  Chris- 
tian County,  and  here  received  a  good  education. 
On  the  20th  of  February,  1871,  she  gave  her  hand 
in  marriage  to  William  Ettinger,  who  was  born 
October  17,  1841,  in  Dauphin  County,  Pa.  For  a 
number  of  years  lie  was  engaged  in  the  harness 
business  in  Taylorville.  His  death  occurred  May 
11,  1882,  and  he  lies  buried  in  the  Taylorville 
Cemetery.  During  the  late  Civil  War,  he  served 
for  nearly'  four  years  as  a  member  of  a  Pennsyl- 
vania regiment  which  participated  in  forty-two 
engagements.  He  was  in  the  cavalry  service, 
being  attached  to  the  Eighteenth  Pennsylvania 
Cavalry.  By  the  union  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ettinger 
was  born  a  family  of  three  children,  all  living. 
Hayden,  who  was  born  July  1,  1873,  is  a  highly 
educated  young  man  and  is  now  assisting  his 
mother  in  managing  the  home  place;  Jessie  was 
born  July  10,  1877;  and  Allen's  birth  occurred 
May  6.  1881.  Mrs.  Ettinger  still  resides  on  the 
farm  of  four  hundred  and  forty  acres,  two  hundred 
and  forty  of  which  formerly  belonged  to  her  hus- 
band. It  is  one  of  the  best  farms  of  the  county, 
and  in  addition  to  this  she  owns  eighty  acres  in 
Taylorville  Township  and  a  good  residence  prop- 
erty in  Taylorville,  where  the  family  reside  during 
the  winter.  In  1870,  on  the  death  of  her  father, 


she  inherited  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land, 
and  at  this  writing  she  is  the  owner  of  five  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres.  Anthony  Willey,  the  only 
son  of  our  subject,  is  a  progressive  and  well-to-do 
farmer  of  Christian  County. 

The  town  of  Willey  Station  was  laid  out  by 
Stephen  Willey,  who  built  and  owned  the  station 
house.  The  village  is  now  quite  a  thriving  place, 
numbering  a  good  many  inhabitants.  In  politics, 
our  subject  was  a  stanch  Republican  and  was  much 
interested  in  the  success  of  his  part}7. 


SlL  ENRY  KIRK,  a  retired  farmer  of  Taylor- 
ifj)  ville,  claims  Ohio  as  the  State  of  his  nativ- 
ub/?'  ity,  his  birth  having  occurred  near  Fulton, 
(H)  in  Stark  County,  December  19,  1829.  His 
father,  Jacob  Kirk,  was  a  native  of  Centre  County, 
Pa.,  and  married  Ann  Furst,  who  was  also  born  in 
the  Keystone  State.  HP  became  one  of  the  pio- 
neer settlers  of  Ohio,  locating  there  in  1808.  He 
and  his  wife  both  spent  their  last  days  in  Stark 
County,  where  they  had  so  long  resided  and  where 
the}'  were  numbered  among  the  most  highly  es- 
teemed citizens. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  to  man- 
hood in  the  usual  manner  of  farmer  lads,  and  the 
public  schools  afforded  him  his  educational  privi- 
leges. He  remained  at  home  until  1851,  when,  on 
the  16th  of  October  of  that  year,  he  was  joined  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Hannah  B.  McFarland,  a  na- 
tive of  Wayne  County,  Ohio.  His  father  made 
him  a  present  of  one  hundred  and  seventeen  acres 
of  land,  upon  which  was  a  small  clearing  but  no 
house.  He  hewed  the  logs  for  a  cabin  and  lived 
upon  that  place  for  six  years,  during  which  time 
he  cleared  and  improved  sixty  acres. 

It  was  in  1857  that  Mr.  Kirk  sold  his  farm  in 
Ohio,  and  traveled  Westward  until  he  had  reached 
Christian  County,  111.,  when  he  made  a  settlement 
in  Buckhart  Township.  He  was  accompanied  by 
John  Harmon,  now  of  this  county.  Mr.  Kirk  had 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


previously  visited  this  locality  and  purchased  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  upon  which  a 
crop  had  been  planted,  at  $25  per  acre.  In  Nov- 
ember following  his  arrival,  he  was  joined  by  his 
family.  Turning  his  attention  to  the  develop- 
ment of  his  land,  he  devoted  himself  assiduously 
to  its  cultivation  and  improvement  until  1891. 
He  had  made  other  purchases,  becoming  the  owner 
of  four  hundred  and  ten  acres,  which  were  divided 
into  two  farms.  In  connection  with  general  farm- 
ing he  also  engaged  in  fee'ding  stock  for  ten  years, 
and  in  breeding  heavy  draft  horses.  His  farms 
are  both  well  improved  and  are  valuable  and  de- 
sirable places,  being  supplied  with  all  modern  con- 
veniences and  equipments.  Mr.  Kirk  has  recently 
also  purchased  a  section  of  wheatland  in  Furnas 
County,  Neb.  In  1891  he  left  his  country  home 
and  came  to  Taylorville,  where  he  erected  a  fine 
residence  and  is  now  living  a  retired  life. 

In  1869  our  subject  was  called  upon  to  mourn 
the  loss  of  his  wife,  who  died  on  the  31st  of  De- 
cember. On  the  18th  of  August,  1870,  he  was 
married  in  Pana  to  Miss  Margaret  Bell  Orr,  a  sis- 
ter of  Prof.  Orr,  County  Superintendent  of  Schools. 
Seven  children  were  born  of  the  first  marriage  and 
three  of  the  second.  Four  of  the  number  are  now 
deceased,  three  having  died  in  infancy.  Thad- 
deus  David,  the  eldest,  who  had  been  a  student  in 
Lexington,  Ky.,  died  at  the  age  of  nineteen  years. 
Charles  Dwight  is  now  a  farmer  of  Buckhart 
Township,  and  School  Treasurer.  Emma  Cora  is 
the  wife  of  R.  F.  Oplinger,  book-keeper  and  cash- 
ier in  a  store  in  Taylorville.  Arthur  Burton 
operates  a  part  of  the  old  homestead.  Hattie  is 
the  wife  of  Irving  Baughman.  a  farmer  of  Buck- 
hart  Township.  Grace  graduated  as  a  stenog- 
rapher and  type-writer  from  the  Springfield  Busi- 
ness College.  Josie  Pearl  is  a  student  in  the  High 
School. 

Since  the  age  of  sixteen  Mr.  Kirk  has  been  a 
member  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  his  wife  is 
also  a  member.  He  was  made  a  Mason  in  Grove 
City  Lodge  No.  585,  A.  F.  &.  A.  M.,  and  belongs 
to  Taylorville  Chapter  No.  99,  R.  A.  M.  He  was 
initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  the  Odd  Fellows' 
fraternity  in  1854.  In  politics,  he  is  a  Republican, 
and  for  eighteen  years  served  as  Treasurer  of  the 


school  fund  in  his  township,  although  it  is  a 
strongly  Democratic  district.  Through  well-dir- 
ected efforts,  Mr.  Kirk  has  acquired  a  handsome 
property  and  is  now  numbered  among  the  sub- 
stantial citizens  of  Taylorville.  where  he  is  now 
living  retired  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  rest  which 
he  has  so  truly  earned  and  richly  deserves. 


ICHARD  McCLELLAN  POWEL  was  born 
in  Parkersburg,  W.  Va.,  September  2,  1846, 
and  died-  November  1,  1892,  respected 
by  all  who  knew  him.  In  his  death  the 
community  lost  one  of  its  best  citizens  and  one 
who  will  be  I6ng  mourned  by  a  large  circle  of 
friends.  He  came  of  a  family  of  English  origin, 
which  was  founded  in  America  by  his  grandfa- 
ther, Richard  Powel,  in  Colonial  days.  During 
the  War  for  Independence  the  grandfather  ob- 
tained letters  of  marque,  and  as  Captain  of  a  pri- 
vateer sailed  from  these  shores.  It  is  supposed 
that  all  on  board  perished,  for  no  news  was  ever 
received  of  them.  Richard  Powel  left  a  little  son 
of  six  months,  who  also  bore  the  name  of  Richard, 
and  became  the  father  of  our  subject.  He  was 
born  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  December  9,  1801,  and 
was  a  cabinet-maker  by  trade.  He  married  Sarah 
Firth,  and  in  1841  removed  to  Parkersburg,  W. 
Va.,  where  he  remained  until  September,  1851, 
when  he  emigrated  to  Springfield,  I II.  In  1853  he 
came  to  Taylorville,  and  his  death  here  occurred 
September  11,  1875. 

Our  subject  was  only  about  six  years  of  age 
when  the  family  came  to  this  city,  and  with  the 
history  of  Christian  County  he  was  identified  un- 
til his  death.  When  quite  young  he  began  the 
study  of  surveying,  and  mastered  the  profession 
almost  entirely  through  his  own  efforts,  being  as- 
sisted to  some  extent  by  Charles  Manners,  who 
was  then  County  Surve3ror.  For  a  time  Mr.  Powel 
followed  surveying  in  Indiana,  with  headquarters 
at  Indianapolis,  locating  railroad  lines  in  Indiana, 
Ohio,  Iowa  and  Missouri.  In  1869  he  was  elected 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


287 


County  Surveyor  of  Christian  County  for  a  term 
of  two  years,  was  re-elected  in  1871,  1875  and 
1879,  his  term  of  office  expiring  in  1884,  after  a 
period  of  fifteen  years  spent  in  that  position. 
Although  the  county  is  Democratic  and  life  was  a 
Republican  in  political  faith,  he  was  elected  by 
very  large  majorities,  a  fact  that  indicates  the  con- 
'fldence  placed  in  him,  his  personal  popularity  and 
his  excellent  ability.  He  laid  out  several  drain- 
age systems,  and  that  a  large  area  of  the  country 
surrounding  Taylorville  is  now  fine  farming  land 
is  due  entirely  to  the  labors  of  Mr.  Powel. 

On  the  17th  of  December,  1885,  our  subject  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Ernma  Catherwood, 
daughter  of  Jarnes  and  Lydia  (Tussey)  Cather- 
wood, the  former  a  native  of  Ireland  and  the  lat- 
ter of  Pennsylvania.  For  some  years  they  made 
their  home  in  Guernsey  County,  Ohio.  The  fa- 
ther died  when  Mrs.  Powel  was  only  two  years 
old.  Mrs.  Catherwood  removed  to  Shelby  County, 
111.,  about  1857,  and  from  there  came  to  Taylor- 
ville. She  is  still  living  in  this  city,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-nine  years.  Of  her  family  of  ten  children 
seven  are  now  living.  Mrs.  Powel  was  only  six 
years  of  age  when  she  came  to  Christian  County. 
By  her  marriage  she  has  become  the  mother  of  two 
children:  Ellen  C.  and  Ruth  Firth,  aged  six  and 
three  years  respectively. 

In  addition  to  his  other  business  interests,  Mr. 
Powel  was  one  of  Hie  incorporators  and  a  Director 
of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Taylorville.  He 
was  also  the  owner  of  two  farms,  comprising  four 
hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land,  which  yielded  to 
him  a  good  income.  An  indefatigable  worker,  he 
possessed  a  robust  constitution  and  spared  himself 
not  in  the  least  when  he  thought  his  work  de- 
manded his  attention.  He  worked  up  to  within  a 
few  days  of  his  death,  being  anxious  to  complete 
a  drainage  system  before  winter  set  in.  His  ad- 
vice and  counsel  were  often  sought  by  business 
men,  who  placed  the  utmost  confidence  in  him. 
His  woid  was  as  good  as  his  bond,  his  integrity 
unquestioned.  lie  was  a  firm,  kind  friend  and  a 
loving  and  tender  husband  and  father.  Honor- 
able and  upright  in  all  things,  he  won  the  esteem 
of  everybody  with  whom  business  or  social  rela- 
tions brought  him  in  contract.  Mrs.  Powel  is  still 


living  in  Taylorville,  where  she  has  a  pleasant 
home  that  she  has  recently  erected  on  the  old 
Powel  homestead.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  and  through  her  many  ex- 
cellencies of  character  has  gained  a  large  circle  of 
warm  friends. 


JOSEPH  F.  MILLER,  M.  D.,  who  is  engaged 
in  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  Palmer, 
has  a  large  practice  in    this   place   and   the 
surrounding   country.     He  is  a  native  of 
Illinois,  having    been    born    in    Fayette    County 
April  28,  1857,  to  Jacob  and  Mary  Jane  (Stapp) 
Miller.     The  father  is  also  a  native  of  that  county, 
while  his  wife  was  born  in  Kentucky.     Their  fam- 
ily comprised  five  children,  three  of  whom  died  in 
early  childhood.     Those  surviving  are  John  H., 
who  is  a  physician   at  Pana,  111.;  and  Joseph  F., 
our  subject.     Dr.  Miller,  of   Pana,  married   Miss 
Laura  Thiele.     They    have   two   children,  Lewis 
Henry  and  Cora. 

After  the  death  of  our  subject's  mother,  his  fa- 
ther married  Elizabeth  Forester,  by  whom  he  had 
three  children.  Two  died  in  infancy,  while  the 
third  child,  Andrew  D.,  is  still  living.  The  third 
wife  of  Mr.  Miller  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Cath- 
erine Sanford.  She  became  the  mother  of  a  son 
and  daughter,  Lewis  A.,  and  Addie  M.,  who  died 
at  the  age  of  thirteen  years.  After  the  death  of 
Mrs.  Catherine  Miller,  the  husband  wedded  Lytha 
J.  Burns,  and  to  them  were  born  two  children, 
Lola  and  Gertrude.  Mr.  Miller  has  been  for  a 
period  of  forty  years  a  minister  in  the  Christian 
Church.  He  was  a  valiant  soldier  during  the  war 
with  Mexico. 

Dr.  J.  F.  Miller,  whose  name  heads  this  sketch, 
was  reared  on  his  father's  farm  in  Fayette  County, 
and  lived  at  home  until  he  had  attained  his  sev- 
enteenth year.  He  received  his  early  education 
in  the  district  schools,  and  while  still  quite  young 
determined  to  become  a  physician.  He  therefore 


288 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


entered  the  Missouri  Medical  College  of  St.  Louis, 
and  after  pursuing  his  studies  there  for  several 
years,  was  graduated  from  that  justly  noted  insti- 
tution in  March,  1889.  In  the  following  July  he 
located  in  Palmer,  where  he  began  the  practice  of 
his  profession.  He  lias  already  acquired  a  large 
practice,  as  he  is  well  informed  and  well  read  on 
all  matters  pertaining  to  the  science  of  medicine, 
and  keeps  fully  abreast  of  the  times. 

The  Doctor  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Henrietta  Lowe  on  the  8th  of  June,  1890.  The 
lady  is  a  daughter  of  Milton  and  Priscilla  (Hin- 
ton)  Lowe,  of  Shelby  County,  111.  By  her  mar- 
riage she  has  become  the  mother  of  a  bright  little 
boy,  who  was  given  the  Christian  name  of  his 
grandfather,  Jacob,  and  whose  middle  name  is 
Clyde. 

Socially,  the  Doctor  is  a  member  of  Palmer 
Lodge  No.  501, 1.  O.  O.  F.,  and  also  holds  mem- 
bership with  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America. 
He  casts  his  ballot  in  favor  of  the  nominees  of  the 
Republican  party,  and  has  served  for  one  term  as 
a  member  of  the  Village  Board  of  Trustees,  and 
always  takes  an  active  part  in  educational  matters. 
He  owns  a  pleasant  and  desirable  home  properly, 
where  he  has  his  office.  In  addition  to  this  he  has 
ten  acres  of  land  which  is  situated  one  mile  from 
Palmer.  By  those  who  know  him  well  he  is  held 
in  the  highest  regard,  and  is  a  man  of  justice  and 
upright  character. 


JESSE    HANON   is  one  of    the    pioneers   of 
Christian  County,  his  birth  having  occurred 
April  14,  1830,  about  ten  miles  from  Tay- 
lorville.     He  is  a  farmer,  now  residing  in 
Morrisonville,  and  is  the  owner  of  a  number  of 
fine    farms.     His    father,  Martin    Hauon,  was   the 
first  settler  in  this  county,  having  settled  near  Tay- 
lor ville  in  1818.     He  was  a  nativeof  Tennessee,  and 
was  a   farmer  by  occupation.     He   took   up  about 
eighty  acres  of  land,  but  afterward  bought  a  lum- 
ber mill,  which  was  located  on  the  farm  where  our 


subject  was  born.  This  mill  was  subsequently 
known  as  the  Elgin  Mill,  and  this  lie  operated  for 
a  number  of  years.  From  there  he  removed  to  the 
present  site  of  Taylorville,  before  the  town  was 
laid  out,  His  father,  Michael  Hanon,  was  born 
and  reared  in  Ireland,  and  came  to  America  when 
a  young  man.  He  was  a  farmer  in  Tennessee,  and 
died  while  still  in  the  prime  of  life.  The  name  of 
the  family  was  originally  spelled  Hening.  Michael 
Hanon  reared  a  family  of  four  daughters  and  five 
sons.  Our  subject's  father  died  April  5,  1879, 
aged  seventy-nine  years. 

The  wife  of  Martin  Hanon,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Sarah  Miller,  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  her 
people  being  of  German  birth.  Her  parents  came 
to  America  after  their  marriage,  settling  in  Penn- 
sylvania, -where  the  father  died  in  middle  life. 
To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hanon  were  born  ten  children, 
only  four  of  the  number  now  living:  .Jesse;  Jo- 
seph; Susan,  wife  of  G.  R.  Sharp,  of  Sharpsburg. 
111.;  and  Elijah,  who  is  a  resident  of  Lamed,  Kan. 
Joseph  lives  at  Willow  Springs,  Mo.  The  parents 
were  members  of  the  Predestinariau  Baptist 
Church. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  has  spent  his  entire 
life  in  this  county  with  the  exception  of  three 
years,  when  he  was  absent  during  the  late  war. 
His  early  education  was  obtained  in  the  old-fash- 
ioned subscription  schools,  but  in  later  years  he 
enlarged  his  knowledge  by  wise  reading  and 
thoughtful  observation.  His  life  work  lias  been 
mainly  that  of  farming  and  stock-raising,  though 
for  about  four  years  he  carried  on  a  sawmill.  He 
has  been  very  successful  in  his  enterprises  and  now 
with  his  three  sons,  William,  John  and  Cyrus, 
owns  eight  hundred  acres  of  land  in  Clay  County, 
near  the  town  of  Flora.  This  land  is  operated  by 
them  under  the  firm  name  of  J.  Hanon  <fc  Sons. 
He  is  also  the  owner  of  a  good  home  property  in 
Morrisonville. 

During  the  late  war,  Mr.  Hanon  enlisted  in 
Company  A,  One  Hundred  and  Fifteenth  Illinois 
Infantry,  and  was  in  the  service  for  about  three 
years.  He  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Chicka- 
niauga  and  was  in  a  number  of  important  skir- 
mishes. On  the  battlefield  of  Chickamauga  he  was 
taken  prisoner  and  was  confined  for  seven  months 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


in  Libby  Prison;  was  thence  removed  to  Macon, 
Ga.,  where  lie  was  a  prisoner  for  two  months,  and 
was  then  transferred  to  Savannah,  Ga.,  and 
Charleston,  S.  C.,  being  two  months  in  each  prison. 
For  four  months  lie  was  in  the  prison  at  Colum- 
bia, S.  C.,  and  after  spending  a  short  time  at  Char- 
lotte and  Raleigh  was  exchanged.  Altogether  he 
was  :i  prisoner  for  seventeen  months  and  ten  days. 
He  received  an  honorable  discharge  at  Camp  But- 
ler, September  23,  1865,  after  three  years  of  serv- 
ice and  imprisonment  for  his  country's  sake. 

On  his  return  from  the  army,  Mr.  Hanon  re- 
sumed his  sawmill  business,  at  which  he  continued 
for  two  years.  Prior  to  the  war  he  was  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Schools  of  this  county  for  two 
years.  For  three  terms  he  served  as  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  and  for  three  terms  was  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Supervisors.  In  1890,  he  was  the  Repub- 
lican nominee  for  Congress,  running  against  Will- 
iam M.  Springer.  The  honor  was  entirely  un- 
sought. Socially,  he  is  a  member  of  Morrison ville 
Lodge  No.  681,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  also  took  the 
chapter  degrees  at  Taylorville. 

In  October,  1847,  Mr.  Hanon  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Miss  Missouri  Ann  Minnis,  daughter  of 
James  and  Hester  Ann  (Outhouse)  Minnis,  of 
Christian  County.  Twelve  children  have  blessed 
this  union.  Thomas  E.  was  the  eldest  of  the 
family  and  is  now  deceased.  Alice  E.  became  the 
wife  of  John  D.  Murphy,  by  whom  she  had  four 
children,  only  one  now  living,  William  J.  Af- 
ter the  death  of  Mr.  Murphy,  his  widow  re-mar- 
ried, becoming  the  wife  of  Lucian  Murphy.  They 
now  live  at  Pawnee  Rock,  Kan.,  and  have  three 
children,  Charlie,  Glenn  and  Ralph.  William  F. 
married  Miss  Sarah  Halgren  and  lives  in  Flora, 
111.,  where  he  is  engaged  in  the  fruit-growing  bus- 
iness. He  has  two  children,  Jessie  E.  and  Winnie. 
Sarah  E.,  Eva,  George  R.,  Nellie  and  Jennie  are 
now  deceased.  Cyrus  E.  married  Miss  Katie  Hayes 
and  is  also  engaged  in  fruit-growing  and  farming 
near  Flora.  lie  has  one  child,  John  Edgar.  Ferd- 
inand M.  and  Seth  are  also  deceased.  John  E.  is 
a  resident  of  Morrisonville,  111. 

Mr.  Ilanon  is  a  man  of  originality  and  liberality 
of  thought.  He  is  an  earnest  believer  in  the  prin- 
ciples of  morality  and  is  a  strong  advocate  of  ab- 


stinence from  intoxicating  liquors  and  of  temper- 
ance in  every  respect,  but  controverts  the  theolog- 
ical ideas  which  enter  into  the  creeds  of  orthodox 
churches.  He  is  a  sincere  admirer  of  that  great 
sentiment  of  Thomas  Paine,  "The  world  is  my 
country  ,and  to  do  good  is  my  religion." 


•J\  riJKLIfS  M.  IIKWITT,  one  of  the  exten- 
&/  I  sive  land-owners  of  Christian  Count\T,  is 

///  It  engaged  in  farming  in  Bear  Creek  Town- 
||f  ship.  He  is  now  making  his  home  at  his 
pleasant  residence  in  Palmer.  He  is  a  son  of  Will- 
iam T.  and  Andronica  (Gibson)  Hewitt,  and  was 
born  in  Christian  County,  Ky.,  February  19,  1849. 
The  father  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  as  was  also 
his  father.  He  followed  farming  and  stock-raising 
in  the  Old  Dominion  for  a  livelihood  until  1851, 
when  he  emigrated  to  Illinois.  He  located  in  this 
county,  on  land  now  comprised  within  Johnson 
Township.  There  he  entered  and  purchased  land 
to  the  extent  of  some  six  hundred  acres,  and  lived 
in  that  neighborhood  until  the  death  of  his  wife, 
in  1857,  when  he  removed  to  the  old  Vincent 
place,  where  his  remaining  years  were  passed.  Our 
subject's  mother  was  a  member  of  the  Christian 
Church,  and  was  a  most  lovable  and  noble  lady. 
She  had  a  family  of  three  sons  and  three  daugh- 
ters, our  subject  being  the  third  child.  The  oth- 
ers are  as  follows:  Francis  M.,  Olive  C.,  James  B., 
Laura  J.  and  Hannah  L.  After  the  death  of  his 
first  wife,  William  Hewitt  was  married  to  Miss 
Mary  R.  Wilcoxson,  by  whom  he  had  three  sons, 
William  T.,  Lee  Davidson  and  Omer  B.  The  fa- 
ther died  in  1890,  at  the  good  old  age  of  seventy- 
five  years. 

The  subject  of  this  notice  was  an  infant  of  only 
two  years  when  his  parents  came  to  this  county. 
He  was  reared  and  received  his  early  education  in 
the  neighborhood  where  he  has  spent  a  large  por- 
tion of  his  life.  He  supplemented  his  early  edu- 
cation by  a  course  of  study  in  Eureka  College, 
which  is  located  in  Eureka,  111.,  and  in  order  to  fit 


290 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD 


himself  for  business  life  went  to  Baile3''s  Com- 
mercial College,  at  Keokuk,  Iowa.  Upon  the  com- 
pletion of  his  studies  he  engaged  in  teaching 
school,  following  that  vocation  for  about  ten  years 
during  the  winter  season. 

In  Christian  County,  on  the  15th  of  February, 
1883,  Mr.  Hewitt  and  Miss  Nancy  F.  Anderson 
were  united  in  marriage.  Mrs.  Hewitt  was  the 
daughter  of  Thomas  and  Virginia  B.  (Trailer)  An- 
derson. She  became  the  mother  of  three  children: 
Inez  A.,  Nigel  B.  and  Brice.  Mr.  Hewitt  lost  his 
wife,  who  died  on  the  15th  of  December,  1891, 
aged  only  twenty-six  years. 

After  teaching  for  a  number  of  years,  as  pre- 
viously stated,  Mr.  Hewitt  concluded  to  devote  his 
energies  to  agricultural  pursuits,  which  have  been 
his  main  occupation  since  that  time.  He  has 
made  a  particular  business  of  raising  and  shipping 
stock,  and  has  also  been  interested  in  the  general 
stores  in  Palmer,  Morrisonville  and  Harvel,  111. 
At  the  present  time  he  owns  an  interest  with  \V. 
L.  Long  in  a  general  merchandise  store  at  Mor- 
risonville. He  is  the  owner  of  land  in  Taylor- 
yille,  South  Fork,  Bear  Creek,  Johnson  and  Ricks 
Townships,  these  farms  comprising  fully  seven 
hundred  acres.  lie  also  is  the  owner  of  a  resi- 
dence and  other  property  in  Palmer,  and  other 
real  estate  elsewhere.  In  politics,  he  is  a  Demo- 
crat. He  is  a  man  who  has  acquired  his  fortune 
through  his  own  efforts  and  industry,  and  has 
shown  good  business  ability  and  correct  business 
methods  in  the  management  of  his  affairs. 


Jf    H.  SALLIDAY,    deceased,   was   for    many 
years  numbered  among  the  substantial  farm- 
ers and  enterprising  citizens  of  Stonington 
Township.     Coining  to  Christian  County  a 
poor   man,  through  the  exercise  of  his  industri- 
ous qualities  he  acquired  a  large  estate  and  won 
the    respect   of  his   friends   and    neighbors.     His 
birth  occurred  March   10,  1837,  in  Bucks  County, 
Pa.     His  father,  Jacob   G.   Salliday,  was   also    a 


native  of  the  same  county,  and  removed  to  Ohio 
with  his  parents.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of 
1812,  and  died  when  nearly  seventy-nine  years  of 
age.  His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Mary 
Hai-tsell,  was  likewise  a  native  of  the  Keystone 
State,  and  was  called  from  this  life  while  a  resi- 
dent of  Philadelphia,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight 
years.  The  boyhood  and  youth  of  our  subject 
were  passed  under  the  parental  roof,  where  he  re- 
mained until  about  twenty-two  years  of  age.  He 
was  given  a  fair  education  and  became  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  the  proper  methods  of  farm 
work. 

On  the  loth  of  November,  1861,  Mr.  Salliday 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Angeline 
Holben,  who  was  born  March  27,  1840,  in  Medina 
County,  Ohio.  She  was  the  eldest  child  in  a 
family  of  five  whose  parents  were  Elias  and  Mar- 
garet (Hartman)  Holben.  The  former  was  a  na- 
tive of  New  York  and  emigrated  to  Ohio  in  an 
early  day.  In  1866  he  came  to  Illinois,  where  he 
still  makes  his  home,  now  well  along  in  years. 
His  father  was  a  native  of  France.  Mrs.  Holben 
was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  of  German  ancestry, 
and  died  when  in  her  thirty-fourth  year,  in  1856. 

Our  subject  was  the  third  in  a  family  of  eight 
children,  and  by  his  marriage  he  became  the  fa- 
ther of  a  like  number.  The  eldest,  Roland  E.,  died 
at  the  age  of  twenty-three  years,  being  accidentally 
killed  in  a  runaway;  Victorine  is  the  wife  of  John 
D.  llackenberg,  a  prominent  farmer  and  stock-rais- 
er of  this  county,  a  sketch  of  whom  appears  else- 
where in  this  volume;  Edson  P.  died  in  infancy; 
Ella  H.,  wife  of  Thomas  E.  Gragg,  and  Reuben  J. 
reside  at  home,  the  latter  operating  the  farm; 
Eben  O.  died  in  infancy;  Monroe  H.,  who  is  well 
educated,  is  attending  the  School  of  Pharmacy  at 
St.  Louis;  and  Angle  M.  is  still  living  with  her 
mother. 

Mr.  Salliday  was  often  honored  with  local  po- 
sitions of  responsibility  and  honor,  and  filled 
about  all  of  the  township  offices.  On  the  question 
of  politics,  he  was  always  to  be  found  on  the  side 
of  the  Democratic  party.  As  a  farmer,  he  was 
very  successful  and  acquired  a  valuable  estate. 
On  the  12th  of  July,  1890,  death  called  him  from 
the  scene  of  his  labors,  when  he  was  in  his  fifty- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


291 


fourth  year.  Me  lies  buried  in  the  Grove  City 
cemetery.  In  his  death  the  community  in  which 
he  had  so  long  made  his  home  feel  that  they  have 
sustained  a  most  severe  loss.  He  was  active  in  all 
good  works  and  public  enterprises,  was  earnest 
in  the  cause  of  Christ,  being  a  member  of  the 
Reformed  Church,  and  was  numbered  among  the 
representative  and  honored  agriculturists  of  the 
county.  In  his  personal  and  business  relations 
with  his  fellow-men  lie  was  thoroughly  honorable, 
and  could  be  depended  on  as  reliable  and  just. 
His  memory  will  ever  be  dearly  cherished  by  his 
many  friends  and  wide  circle  of  acquaintances. 


J.  CURRAN,  one  of  the  leading  merchants 
of  Stonington,  Christian  County,  111., 
was  born  October  29,  1854,  in  County 
Mayo,  Ireland.  He  was  the  fourth  in 
order  of  birth  in  a  family  of  nine  children,  live 
sons  and  four  daughters,  whose  parents  were  Pat- 
rick and  Hannah  (Higgins)  Curran.  Both  pa- 
rents were  natives  of  the  Emerald  Isle,  but  the 
family  removed  to  England  when  our  subject  was 
only  about  six  months  old.  The  father  followed 
the  life  of  a  farmer,  and  continued  to  make  his 
home  in  England  until  his  death.  The  eldest 
son,  Edward,  died  in  infancy.  Bridget  is  deceased. 
Mary  is  the  wife  of  Timothy  Dunn,  who  fol- 
lows the  trade  of  carpet-weaving  in  Philadelphia. 
Frank  is  an  engineer  on  a  vessel  plying  the  Lakes 
and  running  between  Buffalo  and  Chicago.  John 
is  an  overseer  in  a  large  distillery  in  England. 
James,  the  youngest  of  the  family,  is  also  still 
living  in  England. 

Our  subject  remained  at  home  with  his  parents 
until  he  was  sixteen  years  of  age.  He  worked  in 
the  cotton  mills  and  had  a  very  responsible  posi- 
tion for  a  youth  of  his  years.  He  was  not  satis- 
fied, however,  but  believed  he  would  be  afforded 
greater  opportunities  by  coming  to  the  United 


States.  He  took  passage  on  a  steamer,  which  en- 
countered some  very  severe  storms  and  consumed 
twenty-one  days  in  crossing  the  ocean.  A  sister 
had  previously  located  in  Thompsonville,  Conn., 
and  there  Mr.  Curran  first  proceeded  to  visit 
her.  He  soon  went  to  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  where  he 
worked  for  about  eight  months,  a  part  of  the  time 
driving  a  team  and  afterward  obtaining  employ- 
ment in  the  car  shops. 

The  next  business  undertaking  of  Mr.  Curran 
was  in  selling  dry-goods,  starting  out  from  Litch- 
field,  111.,  and  traveling  by  team  from  point  to 
point.  He  followed  this  business  for  some  three 
years,  after  which  he  worked  on  a  farm  in  this 
county  for  three  years.  In  company  with  Erastus 
Murphy,  he  next  engaged  in  the  harness  business 
in  Stonington.  His  partnership  with  Mr.  Murphy 
lasted  about  thirteen  months,  at  the  expiration 
of  which  time  he  bought  out  the  latter's  interest, 
and  has  since  conducted  the  business  by  himself. 
In  1887,  he  added  farm  implements  to  his  stock, 
commencing  on  a  small  scale,  but  eventually  car- 
rying a  full  line  of  carriages,  buggies  and  imple- 
ments. He  is  one  of  the  wide-awake  business 
men  of  the  town  and  is  very  ambitious.  His  bus- 
iness has  grown  to  large  proportions,  and  now  in 
addition  to  his  present  home,  he  also  owns  the 
building  in  which  his  store  is  situated.  He  has 
made  a  comfortable  fortune  by  his  own  industry 
and  enterprise,  as  when  he  came  to  the  United 
States  he  was  a  poor  boy  without  a  dollar. 

On  the  6th  of  October,  1887,  Mr.  Curran  led  to 
the  marriage  altar  Miss  Sarah  Shanks,  who  was  a 
resident  of  Stonington.  They  have  one  son,  Rus- 
sell Emmet.  Our  subject  is  independent  at  local 
elections,  but  deposits  his  ballot  for  Democratic 
candidates  at  National  elections.  When  the  town 
of  Stonington  was  incorporated,  Mr.  Curran  was 
made  one  of  the  Trustees.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Odd  Fellows'  society,  belonging  to  Lodge  No.  695, 
of  this  place,  with  which  he  has  been  connected 
for  a  number  of  years,  and  which  he  represented 
in  the  Grand  Lodge  at  Springfield,  111.  He  also 
holds  membership  with  the  Modern  Woodmen  of 
America.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Curran  have  a  large  cir- 
cle of  friends  and  acquaintances,  who  hold  them  in 
the  highest  respect. 


PORTEAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


«||  LBERT  SATTLEY,  one  of  the  early  set- 
^®/  j  tiers  and  well-known  business  men  of 

l/ni  Taylorville,  who  is  now  living  a  retired 
@jl  life,  has  the  honor  of  being  a  native  of 
Illinois,  his  birth  having  occurred  in  Sangamon 
County,  at  South  Rochester,  on  the  10th  of  April, 
1821.  His  parents,  Archibald  and  Harriet  (Haw- 
ky)  Sattley,  were  both  natives  of  Vermont.  In 
1819,  they  came  to  Illinois,  and  were  married  in 
the  Eastern  part  of  the  State,  their  union  being 
celebrated  on  the  13th  of  February,  1819,  near 
Carmi,  in  White  County.  The  father  was  born 
near  Vergennes,  Vt.,  October  2, 1794,  and  his  wife 
was  born  March  7, 1801.  She  was  a  twin  sister  of 
Mrs.  Robert  Sattley,  and  the  two  brothers  and  their 
wives  removed  to  Sangamon  County  in  June, 
1819.  Our  subject  was  one  of  eight  children. 
Two  died  in  childhood,  but  the  others  are  still  liv- 
ing. His  mother  died  October  13,  1833,  and  in 
March,  1834,  the  father  married  Julia  E.  Sherman, 
of  Vermont.  His  death  occurred  in  Sangamon 
County,  March  16,  1842. 

Upon  the  home  farm  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
was  reared  to  manhood,  and  about  a  year  and 
a-lialf  after  his  father's  death  he  went  to  Spring- 
field, where  he  engaged  in  clerking  until  April, 
1849.  Attracted  by  the  discovery  of  gold  in  Cal- 
ifornia, he  then  joined  a  party  of  twenty  which 
left  the  capital  city  for  the  mines.  Fitting  out  a 
mule-team  with  supplies,  he  crossed  the  plains, 
reaching  his  destination  after  six  months  of  travel. 
He  entered  the  mines  at  Redding,  Cal.,  and  also 
sought  for  the  precious  metal  on  the  Yuba  River, 
being  associated  with  his  brother-in-law,  Thomas 
Cheney.  In  1850,  he  returned  by  way  of  the 
Isthmus  route  to  New  Orleans,  and  then  came  up 
the  Mississippi.  The  boat  on  which  he  made  the 
trip  had  a  cholera  passenger  on  board. 

At  length  Mr.  Sattley  arrived  safely  at  home, 
and  soon  afterward  resumed  clerking  in  the  store 
where  he  had  previously  been  employed,  there  re- 
maining until  1854,  when  his  brother-in-law, 
Thomas  Cheney,  having  died,  he  came  to  Taylor- 
ville to  settle  up  the  estate,  and  soon  purchased  Mr. 
Cheney's  interest  in  the  store  of  Shumway  &  Che- 
ney, the  firm  name  then  being  changed  to  Shum- 
way &  Sattley.  For  two  years  business  was  car- 


ried on  under  that  style,  when  Mr.  •  Sattley  sold 
out.  He  then  purchased  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,of  land  at  $20  per  acre,  situated  a-quarter  of 
a  mile  from  the  square  in  Taylorville.  With  the 
exception  of  forty  acres  all  this  has  since  been 
platted  and  added  to  the  city.  For  two  years  Mr. 
Sattley  carried  on  farming.  In  1866,  he  returned 
to  Taylorville,  where  he  and  his  brothers,  Marshall 
and  Archibald,  established  the  Sattley  Brothers' 
plow  shop.  Large  works  were  built  near  the  Ohio 
&  Mississippi  depot  about  1873,  and  the  flrm  did  a 
good  business  for  some  years.  They  also  had  an 
agricultural  implement  warehouse,  and  in  their  fac- 
tory they  manufactured  plows,  cultivators,  har- 
rows, etc.  They  invested  about  $10,000  in  busi- 
ness and  enjoyed  a  liberal  trade.  Our  subject 
continued  a  member  of  the  flrm  until  1886.  His 
brothers  carried  on  the  business  in  Taylorville 
until  1889,  when  they  removed  their  works  to 
Springfield,  where  they  still  carry  on  operations, 
under  the  name  of  the  Sattley  Manufacturing 
Compaii3r.  While  a  member  of  the  firm,  Albert 
attended  to  the  sales  department,  and  until  within 
two  years  he  continued  to  deal  in  agricultural 
implements. 

On  the  21st  of  September,  1853,  Mr.  Sattley 
married  Susan  C.  Torrey,  who  was  born  in  Massa- 
chusetts. March  18,  1831,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Jo- 
seph and  Abigail  (Sibley)  Torrey.  Her  father 
was  born  March  25,  1788,  in  Connecticut.  In  an 
early  day  he  emigrated  to  Madison  County,  111., 
where  he  married  Olive  Slater.  After  his  removal 
to  Sangamon  County,  her  death  occurred,  in  1820, 
and  in  Millbury,  Mass.,  he  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Miss  Sibley,  who  was  born  in  the  Bay  State, 
in  1804.  With  his  wife  he  returned  to  Illinois 
in  1836,  and  spent  his  remaining  days  in  this 
State.  He  died  on  his  farm  near  Illiopolis,  Sep- 
tember 2,  1845,  and  his  wife  passed  away  in  Tay- 
lorville in  1857. 

Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs."  Sattley  have  been  born  six 
children.  Charles  Albert,  born  July  11,  1854,  died 
in  Springfield  at  the  age  of  three  years;  Ralph, 
born  July  7,  1857,  died  August  18,  1858;  Olive, 
born  July  26,  1859,  graduated  from  the  Illinois 
State  Normal  School,  at  Normal,  and  for  the  five 
years  just  passed  has  engaged  in  teaching  in  Lena, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD 


293 


111.;  Walter,  horn  September  10,  1861,  superin- 
tends his  father's  business  affairs;  Nellie,  born 
November  8,  1864,  is  cashier  at  the  Hedrick  gro- 
cery store;  and  Grace,  born  January  27,  1869,  died 
in  April,  1870. 

The  parents  and  their  family  are  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  are  people  of  sterling  worth, 
and  have  the  warm  regard  of  a  large  circle  of 
friends  and  acquaintances.  In  politics,  Mr.  Satt- 
ley  has  always  been  a  supporter  of  Republican 
principles,  and  served  as  United  States  Govern- 
ment Assessor  for  Christian  County  during  the 
war.  In  connection  with  his  other  business  inter- 
ests he  has  also  handled  real  estate,  and  still  owns 
several  lots  and  business  buildings  in  the  city, 
from  which  he  receives  H  good  income.  He  has 
made  the  most  of  his  opportunities  through  life, 
and  by  careful  attention  to  the  details  of  his  busi- 
ness, as  well  as  by  industry  and  perseverance,  he 
has  succeeded  in  accumulating  a  competence,  which 
now  enables  him  to  live  retired,  resting  in  the  en- 
joyment of  the  fruits  of  his  former  toil. 


JOHN  TILLSON  ANDERSON,  a  contractor 
and    builder  of   Taylorville,   has  spent  his 
entire  life  in  Illinois,  his  native  State.     He 
was  born   in   Montgomery  County,  on  the 
22d  of  October,  1830,  and  is  the  eighth  in  order 
of    birth  in    a   family    of    fifteen  children,  all  of 
whom  were  reared  to  maturity,  but  only  four  are 
now   living.     The    parents    were  George  H.  and 
Nancy  (Mann)  Anderson,  the  former  a  native    of 
Virginia,  and  the  latter  of  Tennessee.     Their  mar- 
riage was  celebrated    in  North    Carolina,  and  for 
some  years  they  lived  in  Kentucky.     About  1827 
they  came    to    Illinois,   locating    in   Montgomery 
County. 

Our  subject  was  reared  to  manhood  upon  the 
home  farm,  and  educated  in  the  district  schools  of 
the  neighborhood.  He  remained  under  the  pa- 
rental roof  until  after  his  father's  death,  when  he 
started  out  in  life  for  himself.  He  had  learned 


the  carpenter's  trade  with  his  father,  who  was  a 
carpenter  as  well  as  a  farmer,  and  followed  the 
dual  occupation.  At  the  age  of  twenty-four,  Mr. 
Anderson  whose  name  heads  this  record  went  to 
Hillsboro,  111.,  and  at  once  began  contracting  and 
building.  There  he  carried  on  business  until  1862, 
which  year  witnessed  his  arrival  in  Christian 
County.  lie  located  in  May  Township,  seven 
miles  southeast  of  Taylorville,  and  for  five  years 
engaged  in  operating  a  rented  farm.  In  1867  he 
came  to  this  city  and  at  once  resumed  contracting 
and  building,  which  he  has  carried  on  continu- 
ously since,  with  the  exception  of  three  years. 
In  1875  he  purchased  a  furniture  store,  which  he 
conducted  until  1880,  when  he  resumed  opera- 
tions in  his  present  line.  He  contracts  for  all 
classes  of  buildings,  both  brick  and  frame,  and  has 
erected  a  large  part  of  the  brick  blocks  around  the 
square.  He  employs  an  average  of  six  men,  a 
fact  which  indicates  that  he  is  enjoying  a  liberal 
trade. 

We  now  turn  from  the  business  life  to  the  pri- 
vate life  of  Mr.  Anderson,  and  note  that  on  the 
5th  of  September,  1854,  in  Montgomery  County, 
111.,  when  twenty-four  years  of  age,  he  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Rachel  Easley.  She  died  Feb- 
ruary 1,  1867,  leaving  two  children:  Jennie,  now 
the  wife  of  Jacob  Ballet,  a  hardware  merchant  of 
Edinburgh;  and  Laura,  wife  of  Anson  Simpson, 
a  teacher  now  employed  in  Foreman,  N.  Dak. 
Mr.  Anderson  was  again  married,  January  25, 1870, 
his  second  union  being  with  Sarah  E.,  daughter 
of  Alfred  E.  Boyd,  a  pioneer  of  Christian  County, 
who  had  settled  near  Palmer  at  an  early  day.  By 
the  second  marriage  there  have  been  born  two 
sons  and  a  daughter:  Walter  H.,  who  is  now  book- 
keeper for  the  Taylorville  Coal  Company;  George 
Burton,  who  is  with  T.  B.  Kraft,  a  plumber;  and 
Addie,  a  maiden  of  fifteen,  who  is  still  with  her 
parents. 

Mr.  Anderson  has  always  been  a  stalwart  sup- 
porter of  Democratic  principles,  but  is  not  strictly 
partisan.  Socially,  he  is  a  member  of  the  Ancient 
Order  of  United  Workmen  and  of  the  Indepen- 
dent Order  of  Odd  Fellows.  He  was  reared  in  the 
faith  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church, 
uniting  with  that  organization  at  the  age  of  six- 


294 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


teen,  and  is  now  serving  as  Elder  of  his  congrega- 
tion, and  has  done  so  over  twenty  years.  Straight- 
forward and  honorable  in  all  his  business  deal- 
ings, and  true  to  every  private  trust,  his  upright 
life  has  gained  him  universal  confidence,  and  the 
record  of  such  a  man  we  gladly  present  to  our 
readers. 


^,  OBERT  W.  ORR,  who  for  many  years  has 
been  the  efficient  County  Superintendent 
of  Schools  of  Christian  County,  and  who 
will  have  served  in  that  office  for  seven- 
teen years  on  the  expiration  of  his  present  term, 
is  a  resident  of  Taylorville  and  ranks  among  the 
leading  men  of  the  county  seat.  As  he  is  widely 
and  favorably  known,  we  feel  assured  that  this 
record  of  his  life  will  prove  of  interest  to  many  of 
our  readers. 

Prof.  Orr  was  born  in  St.  Clairville,  Ohio,  Sep- 
tember 30, 1833,  and  is  the  eldest  child  of  Andrew 
and  Ann  (McNary)  Orr,  who  were  natives  of  east- 
ern Ohio.  In  1854  the  family  left  the  Buck- 
eye State  and  became  early  settlers  of  Christian 
County,  locating  on  Buckeye  Prairie,  in  Locust 
Township,  where  the  father  carried  on  agricultural 
pursuits  until  his  death,  which  occurred  two  years 
later,  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven.  He  lived  a  quiet, 
unassuming  life  and  had  the  esteem  of  all  who 
knew  him.  His  wife  survived  for  some  years  and 
passed  away  in  1882,  at  the  age  of  seventy-four. 
The  last  ten  years  of  her  life  were  spent  in  Pana. 
On  her  husband's  death  she  was  left  with  a  family 
of  nine  children  to  support,  and  had  often  a  hard 
struggle  to  provide  for  them,  but  she  nobly  la- 
bored in  their  behalf.  The  members  of  the  family 
who  still  reside  in  this  county  are  Robert;  Marga- 
ret I.,  wife  of  Henry  Kirk,  of  Taylorville;  Mary 
J.,  of  Pana,  widow  of  G.  W.  Turnham;  and  John, 
who  is  engaged  in  the  groceiy  business  in  Pana. 
Thomas  A.  resides  in  Leadville,  Colo.;  Andrew  J., 
in  Covington,  Ohio;  and  Kate  M.,  in  Denver,  Colo. 
Samuel  M.,  who  followed  farming  near  the  old 


homestead,  died  at  the  age  of  fifty  years;  Hugh, 
who  was  a  soldier  of  the  Fifth  Illinois  Cavalry, 
died  at  the  age  of  twenty-six,  when  home  on  a  fur- 
lough. 

The  Professor  was  a  young  man  of  twenty-one 
when  the  family  came  to  Illinois,  and  he  aided  his 
father  in  the  labors  of  the  farm  until  the  latter's 
death.  He  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  and 
in  the  seminary  of  Bloomingdale,  Ohio,  which  he 
attended  one  year.  He  then  began  teaching  in  the 
Buckeye  State,  and  after  coming  to  this  county 
followed  the  same  profession  until  his  enlistment 
for  the  late  war.  On  the  14th  of  August,  1862,  he 
joined  Company  D,  One  Hundred  and  Thirtieth 
Illinois  Infantry,  and  was  elected  Orderly-Sergeant 
on  the  organization  of  the  company  at  Edinburgh. 
He  was  ordered  into  camp  at  Taylorville,  then 
sent  to  Camp  Butler,  and  in  October  the  regiment 
joined  the  army  at  Memphis.  Tenn.,  where  the 
troops  went  into  winter  quarters.  They  joined 
Grant's  army,  participating  in  the  siege  of  Vicks- 
burg,  and  taking  part  in  the  battles  of  Champion 
Hills  and  Black  River  Bridge.  They  took  part  in 
the  entire  siege  against  Vicksburg,  and  after  the 
surrender  of  that  city  went  to  Jackson,  Miss.,  and 
subsequently  to  New  Orleans.  While  at  New  Iberia, 
Mr.  Orr  was  ordered  to  Springfield  on  recruiting 
service,  where  he  remained  until  May,  1864.  On 
the  1st  of  March  he  was  commissioned  First  Lieu- 
tenant and  subsequently  commanded  his  company 
as  Captain.  During  his  absence  as  recruiting  offi- 
cer many  of  his  company  were  killed  or  captured 
at  Sabine  Cross  Roads,  Tex.,  and  the  regiment  lost 
so  heavily  that  it  was  divided  into  three  divisions, 
Capt.  Orr  being  given  charge  of  Companies  A, 
F  and  D.  In  February,  1865,  the  regiment  was 
consolidated  with  the  Seventy-seventh  Illinois 
Infantry,  under  which  consolidatiou  he  was  mus- 
tered out  of  the  service. 

Mr.  Orr  then  resumed  his  work  in  the  school- 
room and  was  employed  as  a  teacher  in  Sharpsburg, 
Owaneco  and  Taylorville,  having  charge  of  the 
West  Side  schools  of  this  city  for  three  years.  He 
then  returned  to  his  farm  in  Locust  Township, 
and  while  there  residing  was  elected  County  Su- 
perintendent of  Schools,  in  the  fall  of  1872,  filling 
the  office  for  nine  years.  Then  after  an  interval 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


295 


of  four  years  spent  upon  the  farm,  he  was  again 
elected,  in  1886,  and  re-elected  in  1890,  the  term 
comprising  four  years,  so  that  he  will  continue 
to  fill  the  office  through  1894.  There  are  two 
hundred  and  ten  teachers  in  the  county,  to  whom 
from  *35  to  $65  a  month  are  paid  in  the  country 
schools, and  from  $65  to  $125  in  the  graded  schools. 
There  are  thirteen  graded  schools  in  the  county, 
and  two  township  High  Schools,  with  sixty-four 
teachers.  For  twenty  years  annual  institutes  and 
normal  schools  have  been  held  for  the  benefit  of 
the  teachers,  and  for  ten  years  the  session  has 
lasted  from  two  to  four  weeks,  with  from  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  to  two  hundred  in  attendance. 

Prof.  Orr  was  married  July  12,  1870,  to  Mrs. 
Harriet  E.  Shumway,  widow  of  Z.  P.  Shumway,  of 
Taylorville.  She  was  born  in  Connecticut  and 
bore  the  maiden  name  of  Harriet  E.  Pray.  Her 
father,  Rev.  Paris  Pray,  is  still  living  in  Taylor- 
ville, in  his  eightieth  year.  He  came  here  as  a 
minister  of  the  Gospel,  and  about  1858  organized 
the  Taylorville  Baptist  Church,  of  which  he  was 
pastor  for  many  years.  By  her  first  marriage  Mrs. 
Orr  had  one  daughter,  Lou  A.  Shumway,  who  for 
six  years  successfully  engaged  in  teaching,  but  is 
now  an  invalid  and  lives  with  her  mother.  Unto 
the  Professor  and  his  wife  have  been  born  four 
children:  Lillie,  now  Mrs.  Zimmerman;  Daisy, 
Frank  and  Charlie.  Frank  and  Daisy  are  students 
in  the  High  School  of  Taylorville,  and  Charlie  is 
still  in  the  ward  school. 

Prof.  Orr  was  reared  in  the  faith  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church,  but  he  and  his  wife  now  be- 
long to  the  Baptist  Church,  in  which  he  serves  as 
Deacon.  He  is  a  Royal  Arch  Mason,  having  been 
initiated  into  the  Blue  Lodge  in  Taylorville  in 
1867,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic.  He  votes  with  the  Democratic  party, 
but  is  not  strongly  partisan,  and  is  as  popular 
among  the  Republicans  as  among  the  people  with 
whom  he  holds  similar  views.  During  the  late 
war  he  was  a  faithful  and  valiant  defender  of  the 
country,  always  found  at  his  post  of  duty.  He  is 
true  to  every  public  and  private  trust  reposed  in 
him  and  has  led  an  honorable,  upright  life.  No 
higher  testimonial  to  his  efficient  service  in  the 
office  of  Count}'  Superintendent  of  Schools  can.be 


given  than  the  fact  that  he  has  so  long  held  the 
position.  It  is  an  office  that  is  won  by  merit. 
Under  the  able  management  of  Prof.  Orr  the 
schools  of  Christian  County  are  in  a  flourishing 
condition  and  would  be  an  honor  to  any  commu- 
nity. 


JOHN  A.  BOYD,  a  business  man  of  Palmer 
is  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Simpson  &  Boyd; 
dealers  in  hardware  and  agricultural  imple- 
ments. He  is  a  native  of  this  county,  hav- 
ing been  born  in  Johnson  Township  on  the  7th  of 
October,  1859.  He  comes  from  one  of  the  pioneer 
families  of  the  county,  being  a  son  of  Joseph  and 
Minerva  A.  Boyd,  whose  sketch  may  be  found  on 
another  page  of  this  volume. 

John  A.  Boyd  passed  his  early  years  on  his  fa- 
ther's farm  in  the  usual  manner  of  farmer  lads, 
and  received  a  good  common-school  education  in 
the  district  schools.  He  remained  under  the  paren- 
tal roof  until  his  marriage,  which  occurred  on  the 
3d  of  March,  1885.  He  chose  for  his  life  compan- 
ion Miss  Ida  A.  Cassel,  who  is  a  daughter  of  Al- 
exander and  Mary  L.  (Alexander)  Cassel,  of  Low- 
ell, Ohio.  Three  children  have  come  to  brighten 
the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bo3:d.  They  areas  fol- 
lows: Alfred  C.,  Bunita  and  Mary. 

For  a  period  of  fifteen  years  Mr.  Boyd  was  em- 
ployed in  the  grain  business  owned  by  his  father, 
and  for  six  years  of  that  time  was  placed  in  charge 
of  the  business.  In  1892  he  severed  his  connec- 
tion with  the  firm,  and  in  February,  1893,  formed 
a  partnership  with  James  M.  Simpson,  and  bought 
out  J.  W.  Lee's  hardware  and  implement  business. 
This  firm,  though  almost  new,  is  'succeeding  ad- 
mirably in  conducting  their  new  enterprise,  and 
in  time  will  undoubtedly  have  a  large  share  of 
the  local  patronage.  In  addition  to  the  money  he 
has  invested  in  his  business,  Mr.  Boyd  owns  a 
good  residence  propert}'  in  Palmer. 

Our  subject  and  his  estimable  wife  are  members 
of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  of  which 
the  former  is  one  of  the  Elders.  Politically,  he 


2!)G 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


supports  the  Republican  party,  and  social!}'  is  a 
member  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows 
and  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America.  He  is  a 
progressive  and  enterprising  young  man,  who  is 
bound  to  make  a  success  in  the  world  of  business. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Boyd  move  in  the  best  social  circles, 
and  have  won  innumerable  friends  in  Palmer  and 
the  neighboring  country.  Mr.  Boyd  is  known  to 
be  a  man  of  upright  character  and  strict  integrity, 
and  here  in  the  county  of  his  birth,  where  he  is  so 
well  known,  he  is  most  highly  esteemed. 


vEERT  BAUER.  Among  the  native  sons 
of  Germany  who  have  been  an  important 
factor  in  the  progress  and  development  of 
Christian  County,  is  our  subject,  who  owns  and 
operates  a  farm  on  sections  29  and  30,  Greenwood 
Township.  He  is  also  one  of  the  veterans  of  the 
late  war,  and  had  only  been  in  the- land  of  his 
adoption  about  two  years  when  he  enlisted  in  her 
defense.  He  took  part  in  a  number  of  important 
battles,  being  in  the  service  for  three  years. 

The  birth  of  Mr.  Bauer  occurred  in  the  King- 
dom of  Hanover,  Germany,  August  9,  1842.  His 
parents,  Hiram  and  Hannah  (Schlotter)  Bauer, 
were  likewise  natives  of  Germany,  and  were  the 
parents  of  ten  children,  five  sons  and  five  daugh- 
ters, namely.  Heile;  John,  deceased;  Weerl;  Her- 
mann; Engel;  Albert;  Annie,  wife  of  John  Dickin, 
of  Germany;  Grace,  wife  of  John  Parrboom,  of 
Greenwood  Township;  Henry;  and  Mary,  wife 
of  Peter  Bollen,  of  Moweaqua.  The  father  of 
these  children  was  a  farmer  in  Germany,  and  died 
in  the  faith  of  the  New  Lutheran  Church  when 
seventy-two  years  of  age.  His  wife,  who  was  also 
a  member  of  that  denomination,  passed  away  about 
1884,  aged  sixty-two  years.  She  was  the  daugh- 
ter of  John  Schlotter,  who  came  to  America  in 
1853  and  after  residing  for  two  years  in  Madison 
County,  111.,  was  called  from  this  life. 

Weert  Bauer  was  named  in  honor  of  his  paternal 


grandfather,  who  was  a  farmer  and  lived  to  be 
sixty-five  years  old.  Our  subject  came  to  Amer- 
ica in  1860,  having  been  for  several  years  filled 
witli  a  desire  to  try  his  fortunes  in  Madison 
County,  111.,  where  his  grandfather  had  settled  a 
few  years  previously.  On  his  arrival  there  he 
worked  for  neighboring  farmers,  receiving  $1.25 
per  week,  and  was  thus  employed  for  two  years,  or 
until  his  enlistment  in  the  army.  He  became  a 
member  of  Company  A,  Ninety-seventh  Illinois 
Infantry,  and  participated  in  the  sieges  of  Vicks- 
burg,  Ft.  Henry,  Ft.  Blakely  and  many  less  impor- 
tant engagements.  On  his  return  from  the  war 
he  engaged  in  farming  for  one  summer  in  Macou- 
pin  County,  111. 

On  the  14th  of  September,  1866,  Mr.  Bauer  inar- 
ried  Mrs.  Annie  Miller,  widow  of  Frederick  Miller, 
and  daughter  of  John  and  Mete  (Gelkin)  Johnson, 
who  were  natives  of  the  Kingdom  of  Hanover.  Ger- 
many. Seven  children  were  born  to  our  subject 
and  wife,  as  follows:  Henry;  Rhinehart,  deceased; 
Rhinehart,  Herman,  Annie,  William  and  Lydia. 
Henry  married  Miss  Emma  Bair  and  is  a  resident 
of  Johnson  Township;  and  Rhinehart,  who  mar- 
ried Miss  Lena  Elmers,  lives  in  Rosemond  Town- 
ship. 

After  his  marriage  Mr.  Bauer  bought  a  farm  of 
eight}7  acres  in  Macoupin  County,  111.,  near  Gilles- 
pie,  and  there  engaged  in  farming  for  seven  years. 
In  1874  he  came  to  Christian  County  and  pur- 
chased a  farm  of  two  hundred  and  seventy  acres 
of  land  in  Greenwood  Township,  on  which  he  has 
since  continued  to  live.  He  has  made  a  number 
of  substantial  improvements  upon  his  place  since 
it  came  into  his  possession  and  here  carries  on  gen- 
eral farming,  but  gives  his  main  interest  and  at- 
tention to  raising  stock.  He  has  now  about  fifty 
head  of  cattle,  and  deals  extensively  in  that  kind 
of  stock. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bauer  are  members  of  the  German 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  The  former  is  a 
member  of  Nokomis  Post  No.  336,  G.  A.  R.  In 
politics  he  supports  the  Republican  party,  and 
though  not  desirous  of  political  preferment  has 
been  elected  by  his  fellow-citizens  to  fill  various 
local  offices  of  more  or  less  responsibility.  For  six 
years  he  served  as  Commissioner  of  Highways  and 


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PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


was  one  of  the  School  Trustees  for  over  twelve 
years.  He  is  a  business  man  of  ability,  and  his 
dealings  with  all  have  ever  been  marked  by  a 
strong  sense  of  justice,  and  his  conduct  is  in  keep- 
ing with  the  Golden  Rule. 


ELDER  ALFRED  LEWIS,  who  is  now  liv- 
ing a  retired  life,  in  Taylorville,  is  widely 
known  throughout  central  Illinois,  for  the 
greater  part  of  his  life  has  here  been  passed,  and 
he  has  been  prominent  in  public  affairs.  He  was 
born  in  St.  Francis  County,  Mo.,  March  26,  1823, 
and  is  a  son  of  Samuel  and  Sarah  (Fleury)  Lewis. 
The  father  was  born  sixteen  miles  from  Philadel- 
phia, Pa.,  and  the  mother  was  a  native  of  Virginia. 
Five  times  the  father  crossed  the  Alleghanies.  For 
sixteen  years  he  lived  in  Missouri,  and  in  1830 
removed  to  Sangamon  County,  111.,  locating  in 
Cotton  Hill  Township.  In  1846,  accompanied  by 
his  wife,  he  removed  to  Delaware  County,  Iowa, 
where  he  spent  his  remaining  days,  dying  in  his 
one  hundred  and  first  year.  His  family  was  noted 
for  longevity,  his  mother  having  passed  the  ad- 
vanced age  of  one  hundred  and  fourteen  years. 
His  wife  died  at  the  age  of  sixty,  but  her  mother 
survived  until  past  the  age  of  one  hundred  and 
six.  In  the  family  were  eight  sons  and  seven 
daughters,  of  whom  five  are  now  living.  One  son, 
Samuel,  was  burned  in  an  hotel  fire  in  Centerville, 
Iowa,  in  1893.  Alfred  is  now  the  only  resident 
of  Illinois.  A.  G.  makes  his  home  in  Montana; 
and  A.  B.  is  a  merchant  in  Murray,  Iowa.  Alvin 
resides  at  Nova  Junction,  Iowa;  and  Narcissa  Har- 
mon is  located  in  Lyons,  Kan. 

Alfred  Lewis  was  a  lad  of  only  seven  summers 
when,  with  Ins  parents,  he  went  to  Sangamon 
County.  His  boyhood  was  not  an  easy  one,  as  he 
was  reared  amid  the  wild  scenes  of  frontier  life, 
and  was  early  inured  to  the  arduous  labor  of  de- 
veloping wild  land.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  years 
his  father  gave  him  his  time,  and  he  began 
working  as  a  farm  hand  for  17  per  month. 
14 


With  his  first  wages  he  purchased  a  watch.  For 
two  years  he  followed  farm  work  for  others, 
and  then,  forming  a  partnership,  engaged  in  agri- 
cultural pursuits  for  himself  for  about  three  years. 
His  next  business  venture  from  1847  to  1849  was 
in  selling  "Thomas'  History  of  the  United  States." 
For  three  years  he  canvassed  for  that  work  all 
over  Illinois.  Previously  he  had  been  engaged  in 
teaching  classes  in  geography.  He  had  also  stud- 
ied book-keeping  for  a  day  and  a-half,  and  then 
took  charge  of  the  books  of  a  store.  Being  very 
apt  and  quick,  it  did  not  take  Mr.  Lewis  long  to 
master  any  branch  of  study  in  which  he  became 
interested,  and  one  of  his  teachers  said  that  Mr. 
Lewis,  while  a  student,  had  taught  him  how  to 
teach  arithmetic. 

On  the  14th  of  March,  1850,  in  Loami,  Sanga- 
mon County,  111.,  Mr.  Lewis  married  Miss  Eliza 
Jane  Abel,  daughter  of  Dr.  J.  R.  and  Julia  Ann 
Abel,  and  a  granddaughter  of  Adam  Barger.  She 
was  born  in  Rick  Creek  Township,  Sangamon 
County,  October  28,  1832.  In  1828,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-three,  her  father  became  a  pioneer  of  that 
county.  He  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine 
in  Sangamon,  Montgomery  and  Christian  Coun- 
ties, and  died  in  Taylorville  May  11,  1881,  from 
the  effects  of  an  injury  caused  by  a  railroad  train 
at  Edinburgh.  He  was  then  in  his  seventy-fifth 
year.  His  widow  is  now  living  with  her  son  John, 
at  the  age  of  eighty-one.  The  grandfather,  Rev. 
Jeremiah  Abel,  was  a  pioneer  Methodist  minister, 
and  died  in  Macomb,  111.  The  Doctor  was  widely 
known  throughout  the  central  part  of  the  State, 
and  was  au  influential  and  highly  respected  citi- 
zen. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lewis  began  their  domestic  life  in 
Loarni,  Sangamon  County.  At  that  time  he  had 
a  capital  of  about  $1,000,  and  in  connection  with 
Dr.  Abel  he  embarked  in  general  merchandising, 
which  he  carried  on  for  a  year;  he  did  not  like  that 
business,  however,  so  operated  a  carding  machine 
for  a  year.  He  then  turned  his  attention  to  the 
development  of  land  which  he  had  entered  in 
Sangamon  County,  and  carried  on  fanning  from 
1852  until  1872.  He  was  a  successful  agricultur- 
ist and  acquired  a  handsome  property.  In  1872 
he  came  to  Taylorville  in  order  to  afford  his  chil- 


300 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


dren  better  educational  advantages.  At  that  time 
he  owned  seven  hundred  acres  of  land  in  his  home 
farm,  and  still  retains  possession  of  four  hundred 
anfl  twenty-five  acres  of  it.  He  was  extensively 
engaged  in  stock-raising,  and  some  years  cleared 
$1,500  from  his  sales  in  stock.  He  also  owns  four 
farms  in  Christian  County,  with  an  aggregate  of 
five  hundred  and  seventy-five  acres,  besides  thirty 
acres  within  the  corporation  limits  of  Taylorville. 
Indolence  and  idleness  are  utterly  foreign  to  the 
nature  of  our  subject,  and,  not  content  to  lay  aside 
all  business  cares,  he  now  has  an  apiary  of  from 
seventy-five  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  stands  and 
engages  in  bee  culture.  His  sales  of  honey  have 
amounted  to  from  $200  to  $1,000  per  year. 

Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lewis  were  born  nine  chil- 
dren, but  four  died  in  childhood.  Sarah  Sophia 
is  now  the  wife  of  James  White,  of  Springfield. 
Maria  Adeline  is  the  wife  of  W.  G.  Brown,  of 
Sangamon  County.  John  S.  married  Minnie  Mc- 
Donald, and  lives  in  Springfield.  Louise  Theresa 
became  the  wife  of  W.  E.  Barber,  and  died  leav- 
ing one  child,  Clarence,  aged  three  years.  Cor- 
nelia E.  is  the  wife  of  J.  B.  Colman,  of  Taylorville. 
In  connection  with  his  extensive  business  inter- 
ests, Mr.  Lewis  has  found  time  to  devote  to  the 
cause  of  the  Master,  and  has  been  a  local  preacher 
of  the  Christian  Church  since  1860.  He  is  a  char- 
itable and  benevolent  man,  and  the  needy  and 
distressed  find  in  him  a  friend.  He  has  a  fine 
library,  containing  all  of  the  standard  authors,  and 
is  a  well-read  man.  His  life  has  been  well  and 
worthily  spent,  and  in  his  declining  years  he  can 
look  back  over  the  past  with  little  regret  for  lost 
opportunities. 


JOSEPH  H.  BOYD   has   been    a  resident   of 
Christian  County  for  about  half  a  century i 
and  is  one  of  the  representative  men  of  this 
section.      He    owns   a    fine   farm    in    Bear 
Creek  Township,  and  is  also  engaged  in  dealing  in 
grain  in  Palmer.     His    residence   is    on  his  farm, 


which  is  situated  half  a  mile  east  of  the  village. 
Mr.  Boyd  was  born  in  Christian  County,  Ky.,  Jan- 
uary 21  1834,  his  parents  being  Alfred  and  Zilla 
A.  (McCormick)  Boyd.  The  father  was  a  native 
of  North  Carolina  and  passed  his  youth  in  Ten- 
nessee. His  wife  was  born  at  Herndon,  Christian 
County,  Ky.,  where  Alfred  Boyd  made  her  ac- 
quaintance and  where  their  marriage  was  cele- 
brated. 

The  father  was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  on 
his  arrival  in  Illinois,  on  the  6th  of  April,  1839 
he  located  on  a  farm  in  this  county.  He  became 
the  owner  of  fifty-eight  acres  of  wild  prairie  land 
and  as  the  years  passed  increased  the  extent  of  his 
possessions  until  his  property  comprised  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty-eight  acres,  besides  residence  prop- 
erty in  Palmer.  He  was  one  of  the  pioneer  set- 
tlers, as  there  were  only  a  few  families  in  this 
neighborhood  when  he  located  here,  among  them 
being  Gabriel  R.  and  Lewis  Jernigan,  William 
Ricks,  Col.  Bond,  Emanuel  T.  Lee,  Sr.,  Joel 
Trailor  and  Mr.  Clark,  About  that  time  Jesse  and 
Tom  Anderson  also  located  here.  Mr.  Boyd  was 
killed  by  the  cars  in  1880,  at  the  age  of  seventy - 
one  years.  He  was  a  son  of  John  Bo3'd,  who  was 
a  native  of  North  Carolina,  and  during  the  Rev- 
olutionary War  was  in  the  service  a  short  time 
He  was  also  a  farmer,  and  reared  a  large  family  oi 
fourteen  children..  His  death  occurred  in  Ten- 
nessee, at  the  age  of  eighty-seven  years. 

Our  subject's  mother  was  a  daughter  of  Andrew 
McCormick,  who  was  also  from  North  Carolina, 
He  followed  agricultural  pursuits  for  a  liveli- 
hood, and  died  at  Herndon,  Ky.,  while  still  a 
young  man.  Our  subject  is  one  of  thirteen  chil- 
dren, eight  sons  and  five  daughters.  Eight  of  the 
number  are  still  living:  Joseph  H.;  James  M.; 
Elizabeth  E.,  widow  of  Cyrus  Denny,  of  Bond 
County,  111.;  Alfred  E.;  Robert  A.,  of  California; 
'Eliza,  wife  of  John  Anderson,  of  Taylorville; 
Josiah  L.;  and  Mary,  widow  of  George  E.  Ander- 
son, of  Lincoln,  111.  The  mother  of  these  children 
died  at  the  age  of  sixt3--six  years.  Both  she  and 
her  husband  were  members  of  the  Cumberland 
Presbyterian  Chinch,  in  which  Mr.  Boyd  was  a 
Deacon  for  about  forty  years. 

Joseph  II.  Boyd  of   this  sketch  was  not  yet  six 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


301 


years  of  age  when  his  parents  removed  to  this 
county.  He  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm,  and 
remained  at  home  until  his  nineteenth  year.  In 
early  life  his  education  was  limited,  but  he  after- 
wards pursued  his  studies  by  himself  and  learned 
surveying.  On  leaving  home  he  was  first  em- 
ployed on  a  farm  during  the  summer,  and  in  the 
fall  and  winter  seasons  worked  for  five  years  in  a 
sawmill,  located  between  Palmer  and  Taylorville. 
Being  ambitious  and  frugal,  he  managed  to  lay 
aside  a  considerable  sum,  which  he  invested  in 
land,  and  farmed  during  the  summer.  During  the 
last  two  years  of  his  work  in  the  mill,  he  acted  as 
foreman. 

On  the  loth  of  September,  1858,  Mr.  Boyd  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Minerva  A.  Donald, 
daughter  of  John  and  Polly  Donald,  of  Bond 
County,  111.  Seven  sons  and  two  daughters  were 
born  of  this  union.  John  A.  married  Miss  Ida 
Cassel  and  has  a  family  of  three  children,  Alfred 
C.,  Bunita  and  Mary.  James  A.  married  Miss 
Minnie  Kirvy  and  has  one  daughter,  Vera.  They 
reside  on  the  old  homestead.  Adelai  M.  wedded 
Miss  Lizzie  Heuffner,  and  they  live  in  Appleton, 
Mo.,  where  he  is  a  half-owner  in  the  Appleton 
City  Mills.  Otis  H.  is  the  next  in  order  of  birth.  . 
Ewing  D.  married  Miss  Cora  Corn.  Calvin  O.  and 
Robert  are  the  sixth  and  seventh  of  the  family. 
Olive  Luella  married  James  Shrout,  of  Palmer,  and 
is  the  mother  of  one  child,  Earl.  Flossie  A.  com- 
pletes the  family.  The  mother  of  these  children 
was  called  from  this  life  April  3,  1886,  at  the  age 
of  forty-five  years,  one  month  and  twenty  days. 
She  was  a  devout  member  of  the  Cumberland 
Presbyterian  Church  and  numbered  many  friends 
in  the  neighborhood  of  her  home. 

Our  subject  engaged  in  farming  in  Johnson 
Township  until  1864,  carrying  on  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty-three  acres.  He  then  sold  the 
place  and  purchased  six  hundred  and  forty  acres 
of  improved  land  in  Bear  Creek  Township,  and 
also  bought  considerable  other  property,  about 
eleven  hundred  acres  in  all.  He  is  still  devoting 
himself  to  the  cultivation  of  this  land  and  has 
been  very  successful  as  an  agriculturist.  He  has 
good  improvements  upon  the  farm,  which  is  one  of 
the  best  in  this  region. 


A  marriage  ceremony  was  performed  August  5, 
1891,  whereby  Mrs.  Florence  Davis  became  the 
wife  of  Mr.  Boj'd.  She  was  the  widow  of  Alex- 
ander Davis,  and  a  daughter  of  Harrison  and 
Lizzie  (Hawthorne)  Marquis.  One  child  has  been 
born  unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Boyd,  a  daughter,  Emily 
Elizabeth.  The  mother  was  formerly  identified 
with  the  Methodist  denomination,  but  is  now  a 
member  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church. 

In  the  financial  crisis  of  1873  our  subject  met 
with  severe  reverses,  as  at  that  time  he  went  secur- 
ity for  some  men  for  a  large  sum  of  money.  It 
was  a  number  of  years  before  he  recovered  from 
these  losses,  but  he  is  now  prospering  financially. 
He  has  given  his  children  a  good  education,  and  is 
giving  his  boys  a  good  start  in  business.  In  pol- 
itics, he  is  a  very  strong  Republican,  but  has  de- 
clined to  fill  office.  He  is  a  member  of  Palmer 
Lodge  No.  501,  I.  O.  O.  F. 


PLETCHER  HAINES,  one  of  the  prominent 
stock-raisers  and  farmers   of    Bear   Creek 
Township,    whose    residence   is  on  section 
5,  where   lie  owns  a  valuable  farm,   has  lived  in 
the  Prairie  State  since  1829.   He  was  born  in  Ken- 
tucky, near  the  village  of  Scotsville,  November  5, 
1824,  and   was  therefore   only  about  five  years  of 
age  when   he  arrived  in  Illinois. 

The  parents  of  the  gentleman  of  whom  we  write 
were  Christopher  and  Myra  (Gatewood)  Haines. 
The  former  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  while  the 
latter's  birth  occurred  in  Georgia.  The  mother 
was  a  daughter  of  Roland  Gatewood,  of  that  State, 
who  married  and  removed  to  Kentucky,  where  lie 
died  in  middle  life.  Christopher  Hiines  was  for 
many  years  engaged  in  farming  in  Barren  County, 
Ky.,  where  he  was  one  of  the  early  settlers.  In 
1829,  he  removed  with  his  family  to  Illinois,  set- 
tling near  the  Torrence  Mill,  in  Sangamon  County, 
where  he  was  one  of  the  pioneers.  There  he  con- 
tinued to  reside  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
about  1851,  at  the  age  of  fifty-three  years.  His 


302 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


wife  survived  him  until  1860,  dying  when  about 
sixty  years  of  age.  They  were  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  were  devoted 
Christians. 

In  the  family  of  ten  children  who  grew  to  ma- 
turity, our  subject  is  the  fifth  in  order  of  birth. 
Only  six  of  the  family  are  yet  living,  the  others 
being  as  follows:  John  G.,  Samuel,  Frances  A., 
Benjamin  K.  and  William  F.  The  boyhood  of 
Fletcher  Haines  was  mainly  passed  in  Sangamon 
County  on  his  father's  farm,  in  the  cultivation  of 
which  he  assisted  until  attaining  his  majority. 
He  received  a  good  common-school  education  for 
those  days,  and  obtained  a  practical  experience  in 
carrying  on  a  farm. 

On  the  14th  of  September,  1848,  Mr.  Haines 
wedded  Miss  Lucinda  Jane,  daughter  of  James 
Hatler,  of  Kentucky.  By  that  union  were  born 
two  children:  J.  Will  and  Sarah  M.  The  latter 
died  in  infancy,  and  the  mother  passed  away  in 

1851.  The  son  wedded   Miss  Susan  Kessler,  and 
is  a  resident  of  Taylorville.     Their  family   com- 
prises two  children :  Fred  K.  and  Floy  A. 

The  present  wife  of  Mr.  Haines  was  formerly 
Miss  Lydia  Ann  Anderson,  and  her  marriage 
with  our  subject  was  celebrated  November  4, 

1852.  Her     parents    were    Thomas    and    Nancy 
(Laughlin)   Anderson,  of  Kentucky.     By  this  un- 
ion   were  born  eight  children,  the  two  elder   of 
whom,  Thomas   T.   and    Edgar    D.,   are  now  de- 
ceased.   Millard   C.    was  united  in  marriage  witli 
Miss  Annie  M.   Young,    by   whom   he  has  three 
children:  Dwight   D.,  Glenn  and  Lyman.     Nancy 
Elizabeth  became  the  wife  of  S.  W.  Hayes,  and  has 
two  sons:  Francis  Clyde  and  Lester  Calvin.    Mary 
J.  became  the  wife  of  Jacob  Schnepp,  and  has  four 
children:  Roy,  Harry,  Charlie  and  Fred.     Sherman 
II.  married    Miss  Henrietta  Kauriff,  and  has   one 
child  living,  Russell  Fletcher.   Edith  M.,  now  Mrs. 
George  Schnepp,  is  the  mother  of  two   sons:  Er- 
nest F.  and  Carroll  D.    One  child  who  died  in  in- 
fancy, unnamed,  completes  the  family. 

In  February,  1855,  Mr.  Haines  removed  to  this 
county,  becoming  the  owner  of  three  hundred 
acres  of  land,  a  portion  of  his  present  farm,  which 
at  the  present  time  comprises  over  eight  hundred 
acres.  Though  he  has  engaged  in  general  agricul- 


ture, he  has  paid  particular  attention  to  raisinj 
stock,  cattle  and  horses,  mules  and  hogs.  Whei 
he  first  came  to  the  county  few  fences  had  beei 
placed  on  the  land,  and  there  were  no  houses  ii 
sight  of  his  home.  He  is  numbered  among  th 
early  settlers  of  this  locality  and  is  one  of  its  ref 
resentative  men.  During  the  late  war  he  held  th 
office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  has  also  serve 
in  several  local  offices..  He  was  in  the  Mexica 
War,  and  four  of  his  brothers  participated  in  th 
War  of  the  Rebellion.  In  politics,  he  espouses  th 
measures  of  the  Republican  party,  and  is  active! 
in  its  success. 


PRANCIS  M.  LONG,  who  is 
gardening  and  fruit-growing  in  Taylo 
ville,  is  one  of  the  worthy  citizens  thi 
Ohio  has  furnished  to  Christian  County.  He  is 
native  of  Belmont  County,  of  the  Buckeye  Stat 
his  birth  having  there  occurred  on  the  16th  ( 
January,  1852.  He  comes,  however,  from  an  ol 
Pennsylvania!!  family.  His  grandfather,  Williai 
N.  Long,  was  a  native  of  the  Ke3rstone  State,  an 
served  as  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812.  E 
reached  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-four  year 
His  son,  William  Long,  tlie  father  of  our  subjec 
was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  but  in  his  3'outh  L 
emigrated  to  Ohio,  where  he  became  acquainte 
with  and  married  Miss  Susanna  Sears.  Nine  chi 
dren  were  born  of  their  union,  six  sons  and  lint 
daughters,  but  01113'  three  are  now  living:  F.  M 
William  N.  and  Albert.  In  1866  William  Lou 
left  Ohio  and  emigrated  with  his  family  to  Wayn 
County,  111.,  locating  upon  a  farm,  where  he  mad 
his  home  until  1877.  He  then  came  to  Christia 
County,  where  he  has  since  made  his  home.  II 
served  for  a  short  time  in  the  Civil  War,  and  wa 
ever  a  loyal  citizen.  His  wife  died  in  May,  1891 
She  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcop? 
Church,  and  was  an  active  worker  in  its  interests 
We  now  take  up  the  personal  history  of  Franci 
M.  Long,  who  is  widely  and  favorably  known  ii 


PORTRAIT  AND   BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


this  community,  and  his  sketch  therefore  will 
prove  of  interest  to  many  of  our  readers.  The 
first  fourteen  years  of  his  life  were  spent  in  the 
State  of  his  nativity,  and  he  then  came  with  his 
parents  to  Illinois.  He  remained  upon  the  home 
farm  until  he  had  attained  man's  estate,  and  to 
his  father  gave  the  benefit  of  his  services.  The 
district  schools  of  the  neighborhood  afforded  him 
his  educational  privileges.  On  starting  out  in  life 
for  himself,  he  followed  the  occupation  to  which 
he  had  been  reared,  and  for  a  number  of  years  car- 
ried on  agricultural  pursuits  in  southern  Illinois. 

An  important  event  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Long  oc- 
curred on  the  3d  of  April,  1873,  when  was  cele- 
brated his  marriage  with  Miss  Julia  Jones,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Thomas  and  Emma  (Andrews)  Jones,  who 
are  natives  of  this  State.  Five  children  have  been 
born  of  their  union:  Elma,  Edward,  Cora,  Charlie 
and  Edith.  The  family  circle  yet  remains  un- 
broken, and  all  are  still  under  the  parental  roof. 

The  parents  are  members  of  the  Christian  Church, 
and  are  highly  respected  people,  whose  true  worth 
has  gained  them  many  friends.  Socially,  Mr. 
Long  is  connected  with  Camp  No.  30,  M.  W.  A.. 
and  politically  he  is  a  supporter  of  the  Democratic 
party.  Mr.  Long  has  a  good  home  in  Taylorville 
and  three  and  a-half  acres  of  land,  upon  which  he 
raises  garden  vegetables  and  all  kinds  of  fruit.  In 
the  market  he  finds  a  ready  sale  for  his  products, 
and  is  now  doing  a  good  business,  which  he  well 
merits. 


,ICHARD  B.  TEMPLE,  the  efficient  and 
popular  Mayor  of  Taylorville,  is  a  man  of 
sterling  worth,  whose  excellencies  of  char- 
)  acter  and  fitness  for  the  position  have 
placed  him  at  the  head  of  municipal  affairs  in  his 
adopted  city.  He  claims  Tennessee  as  the  State 
of  his  nativity,  and  was  born  in  Knoxville  April 
4,  1846,  being  a  son  of  James  and  Mary  E.  (Alex- 
ander) Temple,  the  former  a  native  of  Georgia, 
and  the  latter  of  South  Carolina.  In  1849,  when 


their  son  was  only  three  years  of  age,  they  came 
to  Illinois,  locating  on  a  farm  in  Greene  County, 
where  the  father  died  two  years  later.  The  mother 
was  thus  left  with  a  large  family  dependent  upon 
her.  In  her  later  years  she  removed  to  Wichita, 
Kan.,  where  her  death  occurred. 

Our  subject  was  educated  in  the  public  schools, 
and  remained  at  home  until  sixteen  years  of  age, 
when  he  began  earning  his  own  livelihood.  Since 
that  time  he  has  been  dependent  upon  his  own  re- 
sources, so  that  whatever  success  he  has  achieved 
is  due  entirely  to  his  own  industry  and  enterprise. 
He  entered  upon  his  business  career  in  a  grocery 
store  in  Rockbridge,  111.,  where  he  was  employed 
as  a  salesman  for  two  years.  He  then  went  to 
Macon,Macon  County,  where  he  engaged  in  clerk- 
ing in  a  drug  store  for  about  five  years.  At  the 
age  of  twenty-three  he  came  to  Christian  County, 
111.,  and  embarked  in  merchandising  in  his  own 
interest.  He  also  began  dealing  in  live  stock  and 
subsequently  formed  a  partnership  with  A.  B. 
Chapman.  When  he  began  business  for  himself 
he  had  a  capital  of  about  $1,000.  After  two  years 
he  was  joined  by  Mr.  Chapman,  and  operations 
were  carried  on  under  the  firm  name  of  R.  B. 
Temple  <fe  Co.  for  two  years,  they  doing  a  large 
business.  Mr. Temple  continued  business  at  Ston- 
ington  for  two  years  after  the  dissolution  of  the 
partnership,  and  during  that  time  sold  over  $50,- 
000  worth  of  goods,  besides  making  extensive 
deals  in  live  stock. 

In  the  latter  line  of  business  Mr.  Temple  has 
since  continued.  Removing  to  St.  Louis,  he  con- 
tinued in  the  live-stock  commission  business  for 
one  year,  and  was  live-stock  agent  for  the  Mis- 
souri Pacific  Railroad,  having  charge  of  the  Kan- 
sas business,  with  headquarters  at  Wichita,  Kan. 
He  opened  up  the  Kansas  territory  for  the  Mis- 
souri Pacific  Railroad  Company  and  secured  a 
fine  share  of  the  trade  in  that  line. 

Returning  to  Christian  County,  Mr.  Temple  re- 
sumed business  in  his  own  interest,  and  continued 
his  residence  in  Stonington  until  September,  1891, 
when  he  came  to  Taylorville.  He  yet  continues 
to  make  extensive  shipments  of  stock  from  Ston- 
ington, Willey,  Taylorville  and  Owaneco.  He 
handles  about  $75,000  worth  of  stock  per  year,  and 


304 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


in  some  years  bis  sales  of  cattle,  sheep  and  hogs 
have  reached  $150,000.  For  four  years  he  has  been 
engaged  in  feeding  from  five  hundred  to  eight 
hundred  head  of  cattle  annually,  and  from  five 
hundred  to  two  thousand  hogs. 

On  the  1st  of  May,  1872,  Mr.  Temple  mar- 
ried Miss  Hattie  A.  Peabody,  of  Stonington,  daugh- 
ter of  W.  S.  Peabody,  deceased.  Their  union  has 
been  blessed  with  two  daughters:  Maud,  who  is  a 
student  in  the  High  School;  and  Edith  G., deceased. 
Mrs.  Temple  and  her  daughter  are  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  Mr.  Temple  is  a  member  of 
the  Modern  Woodmen.  In  politics  he  is  a  Repub- 
lican, for  two  years  served  as  Supervisor  of  Stou- 
ington,'and  in  April,  1893,  was  elected  Mayor  of 
Taylorville  over  J.  B.  Ricks.  He  has  never  had  a 
law  suit,  but  has  lived  a  quiet,  unassuming  life, 
that  has  gained  him  the  confidence  and  high  re- 
gard of  all  with  whom  business  or  pleasure  has 
brought  him  in  contact. 


§ENJAMIN  HAMLIN  H ARGRAVES,  who  is 
engaged  in  general  farming  on  section  28, 
Pana  Township,  owns  and  operates  ninety 
acres  of  the  rich  land  of  Christian  County. 
His  farm  is  one  of  the  best  improved  places  of  the 
neighborhood,  neat  in  appearance  and  highly  cul- 
tivated. The  owner  is  a  native  of  Virginia.  He 
was  born  in  Sussex  County,  on  the  26th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1815,  and  is  a  son  of  Robert  Hsu-graves, 
who  was  born  and  reared  in  the  same  State.  The 
paternal  grandfather,  Jesse  Margraves,  was  a 
native  of  England,  and  was  the  founder  of  the 
family  in  America.  Robert  became  a  farmer  by 
occupation,  and  also  followed  school-teaching  for 
a  number  of  years.  He  married  Nancy  Ellis,  who 
was  also  born  in  the  Old  Dominion  and  was  of 
English  and  Scotch  descent.  Her  father,  Benja- 
min Ellis,  was  likewise  a  native  of  England.  The 
marriage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hargraves  was  celebrated 
in  Sussex  County,  and  they  there  began  their  do- 


mestic life  upon  a  farm.  He  served  as  a  privati 
in  the  War  of  1812,  and  after  that  struggle  thej 
removed  to  Kentucky,  in  1816,  there  making  theii 
home  until  1830,  when  they  came  to  Illinois.  Lo 
eating  at  Edwardsville,  Madison  County,  they  re 
moved  thence  to  Macoupin  County,  111.,  where  Mr 
Hargraves  entered  land  from  the  Government  anc 
began  the  development  of  a  farm,  upon  which  IK 
resided  until  his  death,  which  occurred  at  the  ag< 
of  sixty-six  years.  The  mother  there  passed  awaj 
at  tlje  same  age. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  the  second  soi 
and  child  in  a  family  of  five  children.  He  was 
only  a  year  old  when  his  parents  left  Virginia  anc 
went  to  Kentucky,  where  he  remained  until  i 
youth  of  fifteen,  when  he  accompanied  the  familj 
to  Illinois.  He  was  reared  in  the  usual  manner  o; 
farmer  lads  and  received  such  educational  privi 
leges  as  the  district  and  subscription  schools  af 
forded.  Experience  and  observation  and  con  tad 
with  men  and  things  have  made  him  a  well-in' 
formed  man.  Like  a  dutiful  son,  he  remainec 
with  his  parents  until  their  deaths,  and  tenderlj 
cared  for  them  in  their  old  age,  as  they  hac 
done  for  him  in  childhood.  He  is  now  the  ownei 
of  a  good  farm  of  ninety  acres  on  section  38,  Pans 
Township,  where  he  successfully  carries  on  agrl 
cultural  pursuits. 

Mr.  Hargraves  was  once  a  member  of  the  Far- 
mers' Alliance  but  is  not  now  connected  with  thai 
society.  In  1892,  he  made  a  trip  to  Oregon  on 
the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  and  spent  about  foui 
months  in  the  Far  West,  visiting  many  points  ol 
interest  on  the  journey.  He  has  long  lived  in  this 
neighborhood,  and  has  therefore  witnessed  mud 
of  the  growth  and  development  of  the  county 
He  is  recognized  as  a  valued  citizen  and  one  that 
manifests  a  commendable  interest  in  all  that  per- 
tains to  the  welfare  of  the  community  in  which  he 
now  makes  his  home. 

On  the  3d  of  December,  1878,  Mr.  Hargraves 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Louise  M.  Randle,  a 
daughter  of  John  H.  and  Sarah  (Arnold)  Randle. 
the  former  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  and  the 
latter  of  Virginia.  They  were  pioneer  settlers  of 
Illinois.  Mr.  Randle  first  came  to  this  State  about 
1814,  and  was  for  some  years  in  the  United  States 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


305 


Land  Office  at  Vandalia.  In  1825  he  went  to 
Kentucky  and  married  Sarah  Arnold,  and  three 
years  later  returned  to  this  State.  Settling  at 
Edwardsville,  Madison  County,  he  there  built  a 
mill,  which  he  lost  by  Jire  soon  after  it  was  erected. 
He  later  removed  to  Macoupin  County,  where  he 
spent  the  remainder  of  his  days. 

In  early  life  Mr.  Hargraves  was  a  Whig  in  poli- 
tics and  cast  his  first  Presidential  vote  for  William 
Henry  Harrison,  in  1840.  He  has  been  a  supporter 
of  the  Republican  party  since  its  organization. 


LLIAM  M.  STIVERS  is  a  self-made  man 
and  enterprising  agriculturist,  who  makes 
his  home  on  section  35,  Mosquito  Town- 
ship. From  his  eighteenth  year  he  has  made  his 
own  way  in  the  world,  and  has  risen  from  poverty 
to  a  secure  income  and  to  a  place  as  one  of  the 
substantial  business  men  and  citizens  of  Christian 
Count}'.  He  is  a  native  of  Kentucky,  born  in 
Jefferson  County,  on  the  19th  of  March,  1844. 

Felix  Stivers,  father  of  our  subject,  was  also  a 
native  of  Jefferson  County,  Ky.,  and  passed  his 
entire  life  in  his  native  State.  He  followed  the 
occupation  of  a  farmer,  and  was  also  master  of  the 
cooper's  trade.  His  father  was  one  of  the  early 
settlers  in  the  blue  grass  region,  and  was  of  Irish 
descent.  Our  subject's  mother,  who  bore  the 
maiden  name  of  Edna  Frederick,  was  born  in  Jef- 
ferson County,  Ky.,  and  is  still  living,  though 
having  passed  the  allotted  three-score  and  ten 
years.  She  was  the  mother  of  twelve  children,  ten 
sous  and  two  daughters,  only  three  of  whom  have 
passed  away. 

William  M.  Stivers  remained  under  the  parental 
roof  until  he  was  nearly  eighteen  years  of  age, 
when  he  started  out  to  make  his' fortune.  Com- 
ing West,  he  arrive'd  in  Maeon,  111.,  near  which 
place  he  worked  by  the  month  on  a  farm.  He 
continued  to  be  employed  by  farmers  for  the  suc- 
ceeding five  years.  He  was  industrious  and  care- 
ful with  his  money,  and  therefore  in  the  course  of 


a  few  years  he  was  enabled  to  purchase  a  farm  for 
himself.  Previous  to  this  he  rented  a  farm  in 
Christian  County  for  several  years,  and  has  thus 
been  a  resident  of  the  count}7  for  considerably 
over  half  a  century. 

On  the  10th  of  November,  1867,  Mr.  Stivers 
wedded  Miss  Mary  E.  Masters,  who  was  born  in 
Maryland.  They  have  had  a  family  of  ten  chil- 
dren, five  sons  and  five  daughters:  Cora  I.,  Will- 
iam Franklin,  Lou  Edna,  Daniel,  Myrtle,  Jessie, 
Albert  Clay,  Emma,  Arthur  and  Altha.  The  chil- 
dren are  all  at  home,  and  the  older  ones  have  re- 
ceived good  common-school  educations. 

Fraternally,  Mr.  Stivers  is  a  member  of  Blue 
Mound  Lodge  No.  595,  I.  O.  O.  F.  He  sup- 
ports the  Democratic  party,  but  has  never  been 
prevailed  upon  to  accept  any  local  position  within 
the  gift  of  his  fellow-citizens.  His  desirable  farm 
is  situated  three  and  a-half  miles  northwest  of  Blue 
Mound.  He  has  brought  the  place  under  good 
cultivation,  and  has  made  many  substantial  im- 
provements upon  it.  No  man  in  the  community 
is  more  highly  esteemed,  and  his  neighbors  accord 
him  the  reputation  of  being  an  honorable,  enter- 
prising and  upright  man.  His  success  in  his  busi- 
ness life  is  the  result  of  his  well-directed  energy 
and  honest  toil,  for  he  commenced  in  life  without 
a  dollar,  and  with  only  his  determination  to  suc- 
ceed and  strong  willing  hands  wrth  which  to  hew 
his  fortune.  He  has  succeeded  in  a  marked  de- 
gree, and  well  deserves  the  competency  which  he 
has  acquired. 


fF^  I  CHARD  N.  EMERSON,  deceased.     Among 

^M$  the   worthy  pioneers  of   Christian  County 

*i   was  our  su'3Ject,  who  was  one  of  the  first  set- 

tiers  of  Stonington  Township.     He  was  a 

man  of  good  education  and  was  a  musician  of  no 

small  merit.     He  was  born  February  17,  1825,  in 

Fayette  County,  Ky.,  and  was  the  eldest  of   the 

large  family   born  to  Perry  and   Catherine  (Al- 

dridge)  Emerson.     The  father  was  of  German  an- 


306 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


cestry  and  followed  tbe  occupation  of  a  farmer. 
He  passed  from  this  life  after  having  reached  an 
advanced  age.  His  wife  was  also  a  native  of  Ken- 
tucky, and  was  only  thirty-five  years  of  age  at  the 
time  of  her  demise. 

Richard  Emerson  was  only  a  small  child  when 
his  mother  died.  His  3'outh  was  passed  in  farm- 
ing during  the  summer  months  and  attending 
school  during  the  winter.  He  taught  in  Kentucky 
for  several  years,  and  continued  in  that  pursuit 
during  the  first  winter  of  his  residence  in  Stoning- 
ton  Township,  this  county,  to  which  he  came  in 
1854.  Becoming  the  owner  of  eighty  acres  of 
prairie  land,  he  found  his  time  occupied  for  sev- 
eral years  in  bringing  it  under  cultivation.  He 
taught  school,  however,  during  the  winter  months 
for  a  number  of  years. 

The  marriage  of  our  subject  to  Miss  Ann  E. 
Keiser  took  place  May  2.  1854.  Mrs.  Emerson 
was  born  August  29,  1835,  in  Fayette  County,  Ky., 
being  a  daughter  of  James  L.  and  Abigail  (Stipp) 
Keiser.  Her  father  was  born  near  Lexington,Ky., 
and  came  to  Christian  County,  111.,  in  1854,  at  the 
same  time  as  our  subject!  He  was  a  farmer  and 
engaged  in  tilling  the  soil  until  his  death,  when 
in  his  fifty-fourth  year.  His  wife,  also  a  native  of 
Kentucky,  died  in  that  State,  aged  fort_y-one 
years. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Emerson  became  the  parents  of 
eleven  children,  six  sons  and  five  daughters:  Thad- 
deus  W.,  a  farmer  of  Christian  County;  Joseph 
M.,  also  a  farmer,  of  Stonington  Township:  Elliott 
M.,  likewise  a  farmer  of  the  same  township;  Henry 
J.,  who  now  owns  the  old  homestead,  and  is  one 
of  the  prominent  young  men  of  Hie  community; 
Reuben  L.,  a  resident  of  California;  George  H., 
who  is  engaged  in  farming  in  Christian  County; 
Abbie,  wife  of  William  Hull,  of  Taylorville;  Ola, 
who  owns  a  store  in  the  same  city;  Mary  E.,  wife 
of  B.  F.  Winter,  an  agriculturist  of  this  commu- 
nity; and  Ha  G.  and  Emma  G.,  who  both  died  in 
childhood. 

A  poor  man  on  his  arrival  in  Christian  County, 
Richard  Emerson  left  at  his  deatli  two  hundred 
and  seventy  acres  of  well-improved  land.  His 
deatli  occurred  March  10,  1882.  He  was  quite  in- 
terested in  political  affairs,  voting  for  the  Repub- 


lican nominees.  As  he  was  one  of  the  first  set- 
tlers of  the  township,  he  was  called  upon  to  fill 
nearly  every  local  office  within  the  gift  of  the  peo- 
ple. He  lies  buried  in  the  old  Stonington  Ceme- 
tery, where  his  last  resting-place  is  marked  by  a 
substantial  monument.  He  had  a  host  of  friends 
and  no  enemies.  His  widow  survives  him  and  still 
resides  on  the  old  homestead.  In  the  early 'days. 
Mr.  Emerson  often  went  a  number  of  miles  to  play 
for  a  dance  or  the  entertainment  of  a  party  of  set- 
tlers gathered  at  the  home  of  one  of  the  number, 
He  delighted  in  music  and  was  a  good  musician 
for  those  days. 


JOHN  DAPPERT  is  one  of  the  extensive 
land-owners  of  Christian  County,  and  is 
ranked  among  the  substantial  citizens  oi 
Taylorville,  where  he  now  makes  his  home 
A  native  of  Bavaria,'Germany,  he  was  born  on  the 
7th  of  September,  1827,  and  in  1835,  at  the  age  oi 
eight  years,  came  with  his  widowed  mother  tc 
America.  Crossing  the  Atlantic,  he  took  up  hii 
residence  in  Holmes  County,  Ohio,  where  he  grew 
to  manhood.  There  he  served  an  apprenticeship 
for  three  and  a-half  years  with  his  step-father 
learning  the  shoemaker's  trade.  He  then  sought 
employment  in  the  same  line,  and  worked  for  five 
months  at  $5  per  month.  At  the  age  of  seventeer 
he  began  business  for  himself,  opening  a  shop  ir 
Killbuck,  Ohio.  For  some  time  he  continued  hi; 
labors  in  that  State.  With  his  tools  in  a  sack 
which  he  hung  over  his  shoulder,  he  would  go  front 
house  to  house  among  the  farmers  and  make  shoes 
for  the  members  of  the  family.  At  intervals  h( 
also  engaged  in  splitting  rails.  At  the  end  oi 
about  two  years  he  had  accumulated  some  160 
and  with  his  hard-earned  savings  he  opened  a  shoj 
for  himself.  When  twenty-one  years  of  age,  he 
had  become  owner  of  eighty  acres  of  land,  worth 
*500.  To  this  he  added  from  time  to  time  as  his 
financial  resources  were  increased,  until  his  farm 
comprised  one  hundred  and  eighty  acres.  In  con- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


307 


nection  with  the  cultivation  of  his  land,  he  also 
worked  at  his  trade,  and  in  1864  he  had  accumu- 
lated about  $5,000. 

As  a  companion  and  helpmate  on  life's  journe}7, 
Mr.  Uappert  chose  Miss  Catherine  Silveus,  who  was 
born  in  Wayne  County,  Pa.,  but  from  her  sixth 
year  lived  in  Ohio.  Their  marriage  was  celebrated 
on  the  7th  of  November,  1846, and  by  their  union 
were  born  the  following  children:  Mary  Ann,  who 
became  the  wife  of  Wesley  Resler,  and  died  at 
the  age  of  thirty;  George,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
twenty-five;  John  M.,  who  died  in  infancy;  Joseph 
M.,  who  died  in  childhood;  Rosanna,  who  died  in 
infancy;  Henry  A.,  a  resident  farmer  of  Johnson 
Township;  James  W.,  a  surve3'or  and  City  Engi- 
neer of  Taylorville;  Amanda,  wife  of  J.  C.  Large, 
of  Locust  Township;  Lucy  C.,  wife  of  Elmer  Sho- 
over,  who  is  living  near  Indianapolis,  Ind.;  Sarah 
Catherine,  wife  of  Lewis  Henney;  Emma  M.,  wife 
of  Elmer  Brooking,  who  operates  the  old  home 
farm;  and  Otto  Elmer,  who  died  at  the  age  of  four 
years.  They  also  have  sixteen  grandchildren  and 
one  great-grandchild. 

The  year  1864  witnessed  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Dap- 
pert  in  Christian  County.  He  settled  in  Johnson 
Township,  purchasing  two  hundred  acres  of  land 
at  $22  per  acre.  This  was  an  improved  farm  and 
to  its  cultivation  he  successfully  devoted  his  en- 
ergies until  the  autumn  of  1892.  He  had  also 
made  other  purchases,  and  his  landed  possessions 
aggregated  six  hundred  acres,  divided  into  three 
farms  of  three  hundred  and  sixty,  one  hundred  and 
sixty,  and  eighty  acres  respectively.  He  engaged 
in  raising  wheat  and  made  a  specialty  of  the  breed- 
ing of  cattle,  sheep  and  hogs.  Mr.  Dappert  also 
owns  nine  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in 
Grant  and  Stevens  Counties,  Kan. 

Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dappert  hold  the  religious 
faith  of  the  United  Brethren  Church  and  are  mem- 
bers of  Mound  Chapel,  in  Johnson  Township.  They 
have  been  closely  connected  with  church  work, 
and  take  an  active  part  in  all  that  pertains  to  the 
upbuilding  and  promotion  of  the  cause.  Mr.  Dap- 
pert exercises  his  right  of  franchise  in  support  of 
the  Prohibition  party,  being  a  strong  advocate  of 
temperance  principles.  A  self-made  man,  all  that 
he  now  possesses  has  been  acquired  through  his 


own  efforts  and  the  assistance  of  his  industrious 
and  frugal  wife,  for  he  started  out  in  life  empty- 
handed.  Overcoming  the  difficulties  in  his  path 
and  surmounting  the  obstacles,  he  has  steadily 
worked  his  way  upward  to  success. 


W.  MORGAN  is  numbered  among 
the  enterprising  farmers  of  Bear  Creek 
Township,  and  has  made  his  home  since 
1865  on  his  farm,  which  is  situated  on  section  5. 
In  addition  to  general  farming  he  has  devoted  a 
great  deal  of  his  time  and  attention  to  raising 
horses,  cattle  and  hogs.  He  was  born  in  Fayette 
County,  Ky.,  near  the  city  of  Lexington,  on  the 
23d  of  March,  1835.  His  parents  were  James  and 
Belinda  (Raney)  Morgan,  who  were  also  natives 
of  Kentucky.  The  father  was  a  farmer  by  occu- 
pation, and  removed  with  his  family  from  Ken- 
tucky to  Illinois  in  1837,  making  a  settlement 
near  Springfield,  in  Sangamon  County.  He  there 
became  owner  of  a  good  farm,  comprising  some 
two  hundred  acres,  which  he  cultivated  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  1868.  His  wife  had  died 
several  years  previously.  She  was  a  member  of 
the  Baptist  denomination,  while  he  adhered  to  the 
faith  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

George  W.  Morgan  was  one  of  six  children,  three 
sons  and  three  daughters.  Three  of  the  number 
are  now  deceased.  Zerilda  is  the  wife  of  George 
Runyan;  and  Philemon  resides  near  Wellington, 
Sumner  County,  Kan.  The  youth  of  our  subject 
was  passed  in  Sangamon  County,  on  his  father's 
farm,  where  he  was  early  inured  to  the  duties  and 
cares  of  farm  life.  He  lived  under  the  parental 
roof  until  reaching  man's  estate.  In  1865  he 
came  to  Bear  Creek  Township,  Christian  County, 
and  purchased  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of 
land,  to  the  cultivation  of  which  he  has  devoted 
himself  up  to  the  present  time.  He  has  raised 
large  numbers  of  horses,  cattle  and  hogs,  giving 
his  special  interest  to  the  raising  of  Norman  draft 


308 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


horses.  As  an  agriculturist  and  business  man,  he 
has  met  with  distinct  success,  being  accounted  one 
ot'  the  most  thrifty  farmers  of  the  neighborhood. 
His  place  is  a  model  one  in  every  respect,  and  is 
kept  up  in  the  best  possible  manner. 

On  the  9th  of  September,  1859,  Mr.  Morgan  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Martha,  a  daughter 
of  Abisha  and  Millie  (Funderburk)  Rape.  The 
mother  was  a  native  of  Illinois,  while  the  fa- 
ther came  fr.om  Tennessee.  To  our  subject  and 
his  estimable  wife  was  born  a  family  of  twelve 
children,  six  sons  and  six  daughters.  Thomas, 
the  eldest,  chose  for  his  wife  Miss  Charlotte  Ges- 
ell.  They  have  two  living  children,  Bertha  and 
Stella.  Albert  and  Mary  are  next  in  order  of 
birth.  William  wedded  Miss  Maggie  Mitchell. 
The  other  living  children  are:  Clara,  Millie,  James 
and  Effle.  John  F.,  Sarah  F.,  Moses  and  Addie 
are  deceased. 

Religiously,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morgan  hold  mem- 
bership with  the  Methodist  Church.  Our  subject 
has  always  been  a  Democrat,  having  cast  his  vote 
in. favor  of  its  nominees  ever  since  attaining  his 
majority.  He  has  discharged  the  duties  pertain- 
ing to  several  township  offices  with  credit  to  him- 
self and  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  friends  and 
neighbors.  He  is  a  man  of  true  worth  and  recog- 
nized merit,  being  just  and  upright  in  all  his  busi- 
ness transactions,  and  being  a.man  in  whom  all 
may  place  implicit  confidence. 


&jft  LBERT  GILBERT  BARNES,  of  Taylor- 
^pu|  ville,  is  well  known  to  the  people  of 

//flii  Christian  County.  Thomas  Macaulay  says 
(Hi'  that  the  history  of  a  country  is  best  told 
in  the  lives  of  its  people.  This  is  certainly  true 
in  recording  the  life  work  of  such  men  ns  our  sub- 
ject, who  has  not  only  witnessed  the  growth  and 
development  of  the  county  but  has  been  identified 
with  its  progress  and  upbuilding  and  has  aided  in 
its  advancement.  Many  of  the  most  important 
business  concerns  of  Taylorville  are  the  result  of 
the  enterprise  and  industry  of  Mr.  Barnes. 


Born  in  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  on  the  4th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1835,  our  subject  is  a  son  of  Daniel  and  Mar- 
garet A.  (Richardson)  Barnes,  who  were  also  na- 
tives of  the  Keystone  State.  His  father  was  a 
hardware  merchant.  In  1840  he  came  to  Illinois 
and  located  in  the  capital  city.  He  carried  on  a 
general  store  in  Springfield,  and  after  coming  to 
Taylorville,  in  1858,  bought  a  hardware  store, 
which  he  successfully  conducted  until  his  death. 
It  was  the  largest  establishment  of  the  kind  in 
this  place,  and  its  proprietor  was  recognized  as  a 
leader  in  business  circles. 

At  five  years  of  age  Albert  Barnes  went  to 
Springfield,  at  fifteen  removed  to  Decatur,  and  at 
twenty  left  that  city.  While  there,  however,  he 
learned  the  printer's  trade  and  helped  set  up  and 
roll  the  first  sheet  that  ever  came  from  a  Deca- 
tur press.  This  was  in  1852.  The  publication 
was  the  Decatnr  Gazelle,  of  which  James  Shoaff  was 
proprietor.  Mr.  Barnes  worked  at  the  case  for 
one  year,  then  aided  his  father  in  the  store,  and 
was  also  employed  for  one  year  as  salesman  in  a 
clothing  store.  On  the  5th  of  September,  1855, 
he  came  to  Taylorville,  and  opened  a  clothing 
store,. the  first  exclusive  store  of  the  kind  in  this 
city.  His  stock  was  valued  at  about  $1,200,  but 
owing  to  constantly  increasing  demands  it  was 
steadily  enlarged,  and  he  continued  trade  in  that 
line  alone  until  1862.  At  that  time  his  stock  was 
valued  at  $10.000.  In  1862  he  added  a  stock  of 
general  merchandise  and  carried  on  business  alone 
as  a  dry-goods  merchant  until  1871,  when  the 
present  firm  of  Chamberlain  &  Barnes  was  formed. 
This  partnership  has  existed  continuously  since 
1871,  during  which  time  they  have  worked  up  a 
very  large  and  profitable  business.  They  deal  ex- 
clusively in  dry  goods,  carpets  and  millinery,  and 
carrv  a  well-selected  stock  of  about  $30,000.  Mr, 
Chamberlain  had  formerly  been  a  salesman  in  the 
employ  of  J.  V.  Farwell,  of  Chicago. 

Other  business  interests  also  occupied  the  atten- 
tion of  Mr.  Barnes,  who  in  1867  established  the 
Christian  County  Bank.  After  a  year  his  partner 
Col.  John  Williams,  of  Springfield,  President  oi 
the  First  National  Bank  of  the  capital  city,  re- 
tired, and  the  concern  became  known  as  the  A.  G, 
Barnes  Bank.  On  the  1st  of  January,  1893,  his 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


309 


son,  A.  T.  Barnes,  became  a  partner,  and  business 
is  now  carried  ou  under  the  style  of  A.  G.  Barnes 
&  Co.  Our  subject  is  Treasurer  of  the  Taylorville 
Coal  Company  and  owns  a  quarter-interest  in  its 
property.  He  is  also  Treasurer  of  the  Taylorville 
Gas  Company  and  has  large  real-estate  interests. 
He  built  the  first  brick  storeroom  of  the  city  in 
1866,  and  now  has  four  good  business  rooms 
around  the  square.  He  platted  and  added  eight 
acres  to  the  city,  under  the  name  of  the  Barnes 
Addition.  He  is  also  owner  of  the  well-known  Oak 
Lawn  Slock  Farm,  in  connection  with  his  eldest 
son,  B.  L.  This  is  situated  two  and  one-fourth 
miles  southwest  of  Taylorville,  and  comprises  nine 
hundred  and  eighty-five  acres.  Th*ey  make  a 
specialty  of  breeding  fine  standard-bred  trotting 
horses,  and  have  on  hand  upwards  of  one  hun- 
dred registered  animals,  and  about  forty  standard 
brood  mares.  In  connection  with  the  Oak  Lawn 
training  stables  there  is  a  good  half-mile  track, 
with  twenty-four  box-stalls.  They  have  in  train- 
ing a  number  of  choice  colts  from  some  of  the 
most  distinguished  trotting  families  in  America. 
Some  of  them  give  promise  of  becoming  very 
speedy,  and  taking  rank  among  the  record-break- 
ing flyers  of  the  present.  Among  the  many  men- 
tion can  only  be  made  of  a  few  of  the  most 
prominent,  as  "Nut  Pine,"  2:15^,  sired  by  "Nut- 
wood," dam  "Maggie  Wilkes,"  by  "  George 
Wilkes;"  "  Sidney  Bell, "a  three-year-old,  sired  by 
"Sidney,"  2:19,  sire  of  "  Frou  Frou,"  a  yearling 
with  a  record  of  2:24^.  Some  of  the  finest  horses 
in  the  State  are  found  upon  Oak  Lawn  Farm,  and 
its  stock  deservedly  brings  the  highest  prices. 

We  now  turn  from  the  "business  to  the  private 
life  of  Mr.  Barnes,  and  note  that  on  the  28th  of 
August,  1861,  in  Mechanicsburg,  was  celebrated 
his  marriage  with  Miss  Henrietta  Branson,  daugh- 
ter of  Ben  Branson  and  a  native  of  Sangamon 
County.  They  have  a  family  of  five  children, 
namely:  Benjamin  Lincoln,  Albert  Thompson, 
Mary  Henrietta,  Clara  May  and  AVilliam  Edward. 
They"  also  lost  two  in  infancy:  Henry  A.  and 
Harry.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Barnes  have  been  members 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church -since  1857.  He  is  a 
Knight-Templar  Mason,  belonging  to  El  wood 
Commandery  of  Springfield.  He  has  been  Treas- 


urer of  Mound  Lodge  No:  122,  A.  F.  <fe  A.  M.; 
also  belongs  to  Taylorville  Chapter  No.  102,  R.  A. 
M.,  and  to  Hazelmere  Chapter,  O.  E.  S.,  of  which 
his  daughter,  Clara  May,  is  also  a  member.  In 
politics,  he  is  a  supporter  of  Republican  principles 
but  has  never  sought  public  office,  preferring  to 
devote  his  energies  to  his  business  interests,  in 
which  he  has  met  with  signal  success. 


JAMES  MUIRSON  TAYLOR,  the  senior  mem- 
ber  of   the  firm   of  Taylor  &  Abrams,  at- 
torneys-at-law  of  Taylorville,  is  of  Scotch 
birth.     He  was  born  on  the  2d  of  Decem- 
ber, 1839,  in  New  Byth,  Abcrdeenshire,  Scotland, 
and   is  a  son  of  Samuel  and  Isabella  (Lawrence) 
Taylor.     His  father  was  a  bookbinder  and  book- 
seller, a   man  of  superior  intelligence  and  an  in- 
cessant reader,  who  took  a  great  delight  in  collect- 
ing rare  books,  of  which  he  possessed  many.     He 
also  took  an  active  part  in  the  establishing  of  cir- 
culating libraries.     He  and  his  wife  were  members 
of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  carefully  looked  after 
the  religious  training  of  their  children. 

Our  subject  was  only  about  five  years  old  at  the 
time  of  his  mother's  death.  He  inherited  a  liter- 
ary taste,  and  his  books  were  his  dearest  compan- 
ions in  boyhood.  With  an  elder  sister  and  younger 
brother,  he  sailed  from  Aberdeen,  April  24,  1854, 
and  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  the  New  World,  join- 
ing a  sister  who  was  living  near  Millburn,  Lake 
County,  111.  There  he  began  working  as  a  farm 
hand  at  $7  per  month.  He  also  attended  school 
in  Lake  County,  and  in  the  fall  of  1856  went  to 
La  Crosse,  Wis.,  where  he  aided  in  setting  up  an 
engine  in  a  sawmill  and  became  assistant  engineer. 
He  was  thus  employed  for  a  year,  after  which  he 
returned  to  Lake  County,  where  he  engaged  in 
teaching  school  during  the  winter  seasons.  He 
had  attended  for  a  limited  time  the  High  School 
of  Kenosha,  Wis.,  and  the  academ}'  of  Wauke- 
gan,  111. 

Prompted  by  a  desire  to  aid  his  country  in  her 


310 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


struggle  to  preserve  the  Union,  Mr.  Taylor  joined 
the  boys  in  blue  August  1,  1862,  and  became  a 
member  of  Company  C,  Ninety-sixth  Illinois  In- 
fantry, his  younger  brother,  John  Y.,  having  en- 
listed in  the  same  company.  The  regiment  was 
assigned  to  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  and  took 
part  in  all  the  engagements  -throughout  the  sum- 
mer of  1863.  Mr.  Taylor  was  left  at  a  hospital 
for  six  weeks  in  Tennessee,  and  then  rejoined  his 
command  in  Georgia.  May  9,  1864,  at  Buzzard's 
Roost,  just  after  the  Atlanta  campaign  had  begun, 
he  was  wounded,  a  gun-shot  shattering  his  right 
arm,  which  on  the  27th  had  to  be  amputated. 
This  terminated  his  career  as  a  soldier.  He  re- 
mained in  the  hospital  until  the  27th  of  July, 
when  he  was  sent  home,  but  gangrene  set  in  and 
for  a  long  time  his  life  was  despaired  of.  October 
had  come  before  he  was  even  able  to  ride,  and  it 
was  nearly  a  year  before  he  had  sufficiently  recov- 
ered his  strength  to  engage  in  any  kind  of  labor. 
He  was  discharged  March  20,  1865,  with  the  rank 
of  Second  Sergeant.  His  brother  was  wounded 
at  the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  and  died  from  the 
effects  of  snid  wound  November  24,  1863. 

When  lie  had  somewhat  recovered  his  health, 
Mr.  Taylor  went  to  Philadelphia  and  took  a  course 
of  book-keeping  in  Bryant  &  Stratton's  Business 
College.  In  January,  1866,  he  became  a  student 
in  the  law  office  of  Blodgett,  Upton  &  Williams, 
and  there  remained  until  October  1, 1868,  although 
he  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  March  of  that  year 
before  the  Supreme  Court.  At  the  date  above 
mentioned,  he  came  to  Taylorville  and  formed  a 
partnership  with  Judge  Andrew  Simpson,  which 
connection  continued  two  years.  The  firm  of 
Taylor  &  Abrams  has  been  in  existence  three 
years  and  does  a  general  law  practice,  receiving  a 
liberal  share  of  the  public  patronage. 

On  the  26th  of  November,  1868,  Mr.  Taylor 
was  married  in  Waukegan,  111.,  to  Miss  Adelia  A. 
Stewart,  a  native  of  this  State,  and  unto  them  have 
been  born  seven  children,  as  follows:  Samuel  S., 
who  is  now  proprietor  of  a  book  store  in  Taylor- 
ville; Mary  F.,  who  was  educated  in  Mt.  Carroll 
Seminary  and  Moulton  College;  Mabel  Geneva  and 
Leslie  J.,  who  are  students  in  the  High  School; 
John  W.,  George  G.  and  Clara  Isabel.  The  fam- 


ily circle  yet  remains  unbroken  and  the  children 
are  still  at  home.  The  household  is  the  abode  ol 
hospitality  and  its  members  rank  high  in  social 
circles. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taylor  are  members  of  the  Baptist 
Church  and  take  an  active  part  in  church  work, 
He  has  served  as  Trustee  for  a  number  of  years 
and  has  also  been  Superintendent  of  the  Sunday- 
school.  The  early  religious  training  given  oui 
subject  by  his  parents  has  borne  fruit  in  his 
honorable,  upright  life.  Socially,  he  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Odd  Fellows'  society  and  Encampment 
belongs  to  the  Knights  of  Pythias  and  to  Francis 
M.  Long  Post  No.  392,  G.  A.  R.  In  these  various 
orders  he  has  held  a  number  of  offices.  In  poli- 
tics, he  is  an  inflexible  adherent  of  the  Republican 
party,  and  has  been  an  active  campaign  worker 
making  many  speeches  in  support  of  the  candi- 
dates of  that  party.  With  the  same  fidelity,  with 
which  he  went  to  the  relief  of  his  country  when 
the  Union  was  in  danger,  .he  discharges  his  duties 
of  citizenship,  taking  an  active  interest  in  all  thai 
pertains  to  the  welfare  of  the  community.  He  has 
now  been  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law  with 
marked  success  for  about  a  quarter  of  a  century 
and  is  classed  among  the  prominent  legal  practi- 
tioners of  Christian  County. 


JB.  WADDINGTON,  a  farmer,  residing  on 
section  26,  Rosemond  Township,  and  a  hay 
and  grain  dealer  of  the   village  of   Rose- 
mond, is  a  native  of  the  Buckeye  State, 
He  was  born  in  Harrison  County,  on  the  30th  ol 
November,  1839,  and  is  a  son  of  William  and  Ann 
(Wallace)  Waddington.     His  father  was  born  in 
England,   and    in    his  native   land  was  reared  tc 
manhood.     On  attaining  his  majority,  he  crossed 
the    Atlantic    and    located    in    Harrison    County 
Ohio,  where  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Wallace,    a  native   of   Stark   County,   that  State 
They  located  upon  the  farm  where   our  subject 
was  born,  and  there  resided  until  1851,  when  they 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


311 


removed  to  Tuscavawas  County,  Ohio.  There  the 
father's  death  occurred  at  the  age  of  seventy-five 
years,  while  the  mother  was  called  to  her  final  rest 
at  the  age  of  sixty -eight.  Unto  them  was  born  a 
family  of  nine  children,  six  sons  and  three 
daughters. 

Our  subject  is  the  eldest.  He  was  eleven  years 
of  age  at  the  time  of  the  removal  to  Tuscarawas 
County,  where  he  was  reared  to  manhood,  re- 
maining under  the  parental  roof  until  he  had 
attained  his  majority.  Mr.  Waddington  has  been 
twice  married.  In  1862,  he  chose  as  a  companion 
and  helpmeet  on  life's  journey  Miss  Mary  J. 
Ximmerman,  a  native  of  Ohio,  who  died,  leaving 
four  children:  Emma,  who  is  now  living  in  the 
Buckeye  State;  Anna,  wife  of  Charles  Negley,  of 
New  Philadelphia,  Ohio;  Maggie,  wife  of  Edward 
Loney,  of  the  Buckeye  State;  and  Harry,  who 
married  Aggie  Dodge,  and  is  now  a  prominent 
farmer  of  Rosemond  Township.  Mr.  Waddington 
was  again  married,  on  the  8th  of  June,  1873,  his 
second  union  being  with  Miss  Maria  C.  Grimes, 
who  was  born  in  Mill  Township,  Tuscarawas 
County,  Ohio,  and  in  that  community  resided 
until  eighteen  years  of  age,  when  she  removed  to 
New  Philadelphia.  Eight  children  grace  this 
union,  four  sons  and  four  daughters,  as  follows: 
Lucy,  Jennie,  Grace,  Mary,  James  C.,  Emmett, 
Frank  and  Ralph. 

After  his  first  marriage,  Mr.  Waddington  located 
on  a  farm  in  Tuscarawas  County,  Ohio,  where  he 
carried  on  agricultural  pursuits  until  the  spring  of 
1881,  when  he  came  to  Christian  County.  He 
took  up  his  residence  upon  the  farm  which  is  still 
his  home.  It  comprises  one  -hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  good  land,  and  the  place  is  well  improved 
with  good  buildings,  and  the  fields  are  well  tilled. 
In  connection  with  general  farming  he  entered 
into  the  grain  and  hay  business  in  1892,  and  has 
an  elevator  in  Rosemond.  Industry  and  enter- 
prise are  numbered  among  his  chief  characteristics 
and  have  doubtless  been  the  means  of  bringing 
him  the  success  which  has  crowned  his  efforts  and 
made  his  life  a  profitable  one. 

In  his  political  views,  Mr.  W'addington  is  a 
Republican.  He  has  served  as  School  Director, 
and  the  cause  of  education  finds  in  him  a  warm 


friend.  He  himself  is  a  well-informed  man,  hav- 
ing gained  a  good  general  knowledge,  not  only 
through  textbooks,  conned  in  the  schoolroom, 
but  through  experience  and  observation  as  well. 
Socially,  he  is  connected  with  the  Modern  Wood- 
men Lodge  of  Rosemond,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
Congregational  Church. 


EH.    DAVIS   was  for  many   years    one    of 
the  respected  agriculturists  of  Taylorville 
Township,  and  owned  a  farm    located  on 
section  2,  to  the  cultivation  of  which  he  gave  his 
attention  until  he  was  summoned  to  rest  from  his 
labors.     He  was  born   in  Warren    County,  Ohio, 
near   Lebanon,  October    25,    1827,  being    one  of 
eleven  children  whose  parents  were  Richard  and 
Rebecca  Davis. 

The  boyhood  of  our  subject  was  passed  in  the 
usual  uneventful  mannerof  a  life  which  is  spent  on 
a  farm,  but  there  he  received  a  practical  training  in 
agricultural  duties,  which  was  the  basis  of  his  fu- 
ture success.  His  time  was  divided  between  ac- 
quiring an  education  in  the  district  schools  and 
rendering  such  assistance  as  was  in  his  power  to  his 
father.  On  attaining  his  majority  he  began  working 
at  the  carpenter's  trade,  which  he  followed  for  only 
a  couple  of  years,  and  then  returned  to  farming. 
He  remained  in  Warren  County,  Ohio,  until  1854, 
when  he  determined  to  try  his  fortune  in  the 
West. 

On  his  arrival  in  Illinois  Mr.  Davis  first  set- 
tled in  Adams  County,  where  he  became  the  owner 
of  a  one  hundred  and  twenty  acre  farm,  on  which 
he  continued  to  live  for  twelve  years.  In  the 
spring  of  1866  he  came  to  Christian  County,  and 
after  renting  land  for  two  years,  while  making  up 
his  mind  where  to  invest,  he  purchased  a  farm 
on  section  2,  Taylorville  Township,  which  was  his 
home  until  his  death.  This  place  comprises  one 
hundred  and  sixt}'  acres  and  is  well  adapted  for 
general  farming  and  stock-raising. 

Prior  to  leaving  his  native  State,  Mr.  Davis  was 


312 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


united  in  marriage  on  the  10th  of  November,  1851, 
to  Miss  Adria  M.  Beel,  who  is  a  daughter  of  Noah 
and    Rebecca    (Kirby)    Becl,   natives    of    Warren 
County.    Mrs.  Davis  is  one  of  ten  children,  and  by 
her  marriage  has  become  the  mother  of  eight,  as 
follows:  John  C.,  who  operates  the  old  homestead; 
George  C.,  a  resident   of   Taylorville;   James   II 
who  lives  in  Missouri;    Alice  M.,  wife  of  Reube 
Bunstine,  of   Renton,  Wash.;    Richard,  who    is 
farmer  of  Taylorville  Township;  Adolphus,  who 
also  located   in  the  State  of  Washington,  being 
farmer  in  Thurston  County;  Jennie,  wife  of  Frank 
Anderson,  of  Taylorville;    and  Isabella,  who  lives 
with  her  mother. 

In  everything  pertaining  to  the  public  welfare, 
Mr.  Davis  was  greatly  interested,  and  held  a  num- 
ber of  offices  within  the  gift  of  the  people.  Among 
others  he  was  Road  Commissioner  and  School  Di- 
rector, and  was  a  stanch  supporter  of  the  best  edu- 
cational facilities.  In  politics,  he  affiliated  with  the 
Democratic  party.  Both  he  and  his  wife  were 
members  of  the  Dunkard  Church,  to  which  the 
latter  still  belongs.  The  death  of  Mr.  Davis  oc- 
curred April  14,  1873,  and  his  remains  were  in- 
terred in  Taylorville  Cemetery.  He  was  respected 
and  beloved  by  all  who  knew  him,  and  was  a  man 
of  upright  character  and  true  worth. 


eONRAD  STORK  is  the  fortunate  possessor 
of  one  of  the  best  improved  farms  of  Ston- 
ington  Township,  his  home  being  made  on 
section  33.     The  farm  is  located  only   two  miles 
south  of  Stonington  Station.  Mr.  Stork,  who  is  one 
of  the  representative  farmers  of  Christian  County 
and  a  native  of  Germany,  was  born  November  21, 
1837,  in   Bavaria,  being  the    youngest  in  his  fa- 
ther's family. 

John  and  Barbara  (Mauelem)  Stork,  the  parents 
of  our  subject,  were,  like  him,  natives  of  Bavaria. 
The  father  was  a  wagon-maker  by  trade,  which 
calling  he  followed  until  his  death,  which  occurred 


when  he  was  in  the  prime  of  life,  at  forty-foui 
yeaj-s  of  age.  His  wife  did  not  long  survive  him 
but  was  called  from  this  life  in  her  fifty-first  year 

A  lad  of  only  eight  years  at  the  time  of  his  fa- 
ther's death,  Conrad  Stork  went  to  live  with  ar 
uncle  on  a  farm,  where  he  continued  to  make  hi; 
home  for  five  years.  He  was  only  thirteen  when 
he  crossed  the  Atlantic  and  went  to  work  on  a 
farm  near  Utica,  N.  Y.,  for  $3  per  month.  At  this 
employment  he  continued  for  five  years,  afterward 
going  to  Adams  Count}7,  III.,  where  for  four  yean 
longer  he  worked  by  the  month  for  farmers.  Go- 
ing from  there  to  Logan  County,  he  was  employed 
at  farm  work  until  the  9th  of  August,  1862,  when 
he  enlisted  for  the  defense  of  his  adopted  land, 
Joining  Company  B,  One  Hundred  and  Sixth  Illi- 
nois Infantry,  he  served  until  the  close  of  the  war 
but  never  participated  in  an  important  battle, 
He  was  discharged  from  the  service  July  12, 1865, 
at  Pine  Bluff,  Ark. 

On  his  return  from  the  war,  Mr.  Stork  clerked 
for  three  years  in  a  general  store  in  Logan  County, 
after  which  he  rented  and  operated  a  farm  one 
year.  For  fourteen  years  subsequently  he  rented 
land  in  Austin  Township,  Macon  County.  Com- 
ing to  Stonington,  this  county,  in  1885,  he  became 
the  owner  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
partly  improved  land,  on  which  he  still  resides. 
It  is  now  one  of  the  best  pieces  of  property  in  the 
township.  The  owner  has  made  many  improve- 
ments upon  it  and  has  set  out  several  acres  of  fruit 
trees. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Stork  and  Miss  Mary  E. 
Schick  was  celebrated  October  28, 1865,  soon  after 
his  return  from  the  South.  The  lady  was  born  in 
Logan  County,  111.,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Frank 
and  Margaret  (Young)  Schick,  who  were  old  set- 
tlers of  that  county  and  both  natives  of  Germany. 
Mr.  Schick  located  in  Illinois  in  1839,  and  for 
many  years  prior  to  his  death,  which  occurred  at 
the  age  of  seventy  years,  he  was  engaged  in  mer- 
chandising in  Pulaski.  Seven  children  have  been 
born  to  our  subject  and  wife.  Frank  is  still  at 
home  and  assists  in  managing  the  home  farm; 
Annie  is  the  wife  of  Henry  Polk,  a  former  of  Ne- 
braska; Katie  married  William  Colbrook,  a  farmer 
of  this  county;  Lizzie,  Maggie,  Christina  and  John 


rORTEAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


313 


complete  the  family.  Mr.  Stork  and  the  other 
members  of  his  household  are  members  of  the 
Catholic  Church.  He  deposits  his  ballot  in  favor 
of  the  Democratic  party. 


.^ffl  AMUEL  BROWN,  who  is  now  living  a  re- 
^^?  tired  life  in  Taylorville,  was  born  in  Cum- 
(fi^J  berland  County,  Pa.,  two  miles  from  Carl 

~^^  isle,  February  26, 1818.  His  father,  George 
Brown,  removed  to  Ohio  with  his  family  in  1831, 
and  in  1845  went  to  Shelby  County,  111.  About 
1854  he  left  Taylorville  and  went  to  Blooming- 
ton,  where  his  death  occurred  in  1857. 

Samuel  accompanied  the  family  to  the  Buckeye 
State  in  1831,  and  with  his  father  learned  the 
shoemaker's  trade.  Ere  leaving  Ohio,  he  was  mar- 
ried, on  the  31st  of  March,  1839,  in  Mt.  Vernon, 
to  Miss  Margaret  Sapp,  and  the  following  year 
started  Westward  with  a  desire  to  try  his  fortune 
on  the  broad  prairies  of  Illinois.  He  cast  in  his 
lot  with  the  early  settlers  of  Shelby  County,  and 
there  purchased  a  small  tract  of  land.  In  those 
days  trade  was  mostly  barter.  Mr.  Brown  operated 
his  farm  in  Cold  Spring  Township,  which  was  sit- 
uated a  mile  and  a-half  north  of  Williamsburg, 
until  the  autumn  of  1846,  when  he  began  working 
for  James  C.  Morrison,  a  tanner.  He  worked 
that  winter  at  Mr.  Morrison's  home,  and  the  next 
spring  he  opened  the  first  shoe  shop  in  Taylor- 
ville. Since  that  early  day  he  has  been  promin- 
ently connected  with  the  various  interests  of  this 
city.  Mr.  Morrison's  was  the  only  tannery  in  the 
locality.  Our  subject  formed  a  partnership  with 
that  gentleman,  and  together  they  carried  on  busi- 
ness for  one  year,  after  which  the  connection  was 
discontinued  and  Mr.  Brown  was  in  business  alone 
until  1852. 

In  1852,  our  subject  resumed  farming,  which  he 
followed  for  two  years.  In  1854,  he  went  West  to 
Nebraska,  but  the  Indians  still  held  that  country 
and  he  could  not  enter  land  until  May,  1855. 
While  waiting  at  Mormons'  Ferry,  on  the  Missouri 


River,  he  lost  his  wife,  who  was  called  to  her  final 
rest  in  January,  1855.  However,  he  continued 
his  journey,  and,  crossing  the  river,  made  a  claim 
on  Rock  Creek,  of  which  he  took  possession  in 
May.  There  he  remained  for  two  years  and  then 
returned  to  Illinois.  Again  taking  up  his  resi- 
dence in  Taylorville,  he  was  here  variously  em- 
ployed for  some  years.  He  carried  on  farming, 
dealt  some  in  real  estate,  and  for  an  extended 
period  served  as  Constable,  tie  was  elected  to 
that  office  in  1858,  and  for  thirteen  consecutive 
years  filled  the  position  with  credit  to  himself  and 
to  the  satisfaction  of  all  concerned,  as  is  indicated 
by  his  long  term.  Mr.  Brown  has  also  engaged  in 
renting  houses.  He  has  built  a  number  of  resi- 
dences, which  he  rents,  and  also  has  the  rental  of 
dwellings  belonging  to  other  parties,  but,  practi- 
call3r,he  is  living  a  retired  life,  and  his  rest  is  well 
deserved,  for  his  career  has  been  a  busy  and  useful 
one. 

Mr.  Brown  was  a  second  time  married,  May  3, 
1857,  Amanda  C.  Brown  becoming  his  wife.  She 
was  at  that  time  a  resident  of  Cass  County,  Neb., 
but  was  born  in  Ohio,  and  was  reared  in  Decatur, 
111.  Her  father,  Henry  M.  Brown,  was  the  propri- 
etor of  the  Social  Hall  Hotel  of  that  city.  By 
the  first  marriage  were  born  six  children:  Willard 
Jackson,  who  is  a  carpenter  and  Street  Commis- 
sioner of  Taylorville;  Harriet,  wife  of  Levi  A. 
Witherell,  of  Taylorville;  Martha  Ellen,  wife  of 
William  Fasriacht,  of  Denver;  Adelaide,  who  be- 
came the  wife  of  W.  B.  Nicodcmas,  of  Taylorville, 
and  died  at  the  age  of  forty;  Jerome,  who  died  in 
infancy;  and  Oliver,  who  died  in  Taylorville,  in 
1883,  at  the  age  of  thirty.  By  the  second  union 
were  born  the  following*children:  Clara,  wife  of 
P.  D.  Biggs,  of  Kansas  City,  Mo.;  Etta,  wife  of 
W.  H.  Moore,  of  Taylorville;  Eva,  who  is  a  success- 
ful teacher,  now  employed  in  Assumption;  Minnie, 
also  a  teacher  in  the  schools  of  Assumption;  Edna, 
who  is  cashier  and  book-keeper  in  the  Morrison 
store  of  Taylorville;  Grace,  who  died  at  the  age 
of  seven  years;  two  children  who  died  in  infancy; 
and  Eugene  and  Roy  H.  at  home. 

Mr.  Brown  has  been  an  eye-witness  of  the 
growth  of  Christian  County  for  more  than  half  a 
century  and  has  been  prominently  identified  with 


314 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


its  upbuilding  and  development,  doing  all  in  his 
power  for  the  promotion  of  its  best  interests.  He 
well  deserves  to  be  numbered  among  its  honored 
pioneers,  and  is  justly  classed  among  its  best  citi- 
zens, for  his  life  has  been  one  of  uprightness  and 
has  won  for  him  the  high  respect  of  all. 


JOHN  G.  DRENNAN,  Taylorville's  young 
and  brilliant  attorney,  was  born  in  Caldwell 
County,  Ky.,  December  3,  1854.  His  pa- 
rents were  John  L.  and  Henrietta  (Wim- 
burley)  Drennan,  the  former  of  Irish,  and  the 
latter  of  French  and  German,  descent.  Their 
early  ancestors  came  from  the  Old  Country  to  the 
Carolinas  and  went  thence  to  Kentucky.  The 
family  moved  from  the  latter  State  to  Illinois  in 
the  fall  of  1856,  and  settled  in  Mt.  Auburn, 
Christian  County.  Subsequently  they  occupied 
the  Drennan  homestead  in  Mosquito  Township, 
where  the  _subject-of  this  sketch  worked  on  his 
father's  farm  until  he  had  attained  his  majority, 
with  the  exception  of  the  last  three  winters,  when 
he  taught  school,  giving  his  father  all  the  proceeds. 
On  the  15th  of  March,  1876,  John  Drennan  en- 
tered the  law  office  of  Hon.  B.  Jones,  of  Taylor- 
ville,  as  a  law  student.  He  passed  a  most  thorough 
written  examination  for  admission  to  the  Bar  at 
Springfield,  December  3,  1878,  acquitted  himself 
with  much  credit,  and  received  the  highest  grade 
in  a  class  of  seventeen  applicants.  In  January, 
1879,  Hon.  H.  M.  Vandeveer,  one  of  the  Judges  of 
the  Fifth  Judicial  Circuit,  appointed  him  Master 
in  Chancery  of  the  county,  which  position  he  filled 
for  two  years.  About  the  same  time  he  formed  a 
law  partnership  with  his  preceptor,  Mr.  Jones, 
which  continued  until  the  fall  of  1880,  when  Mr. 
Drennan  was  elected  State's  Attorney  of  his 
County.  His  success  as  a  lawyer  and  prosecuting 
attorney  was  quite  pronounced  from  the  start.  He 
was  re-elected  State's  Attorney  in  the  fall  of  1884, 
and  continued  to  fill  that  position  acceptably  until 
the  expiration  of  his  term,  in  the  fall  of  1888, 


when  lie  declined  further  candidacy.  He  wa 
a  vigorous  and  uncompromising  prosecutor  an 
during  his  eight  years'  service  secured  over  on 
thousand  convictions,  with  less  than  twent' 
acquittals.  As  State's  Attorney  he  paid  over  t 
the  school  fund  of  the  county  nearly  $3,500, 
larger  sum  than  has  been  paid  by  all  the  prosecut 
ing  attorneys  from  the  organization  of  the  count 
up  to  the  present  time,  although  the  county  ha 
always  had  excellent  prosecutors.  Mr.  Drennan,  be 
ing  an  active  and  uncompromising  Democrat,  th 
Republicans,  who  secured  the  control  of  the  Boan 
of  Supervisors  of  the  county  about  the  close  of  hi 
term,  sought  to  break  him  down  by  a  partisan  in 
vestigation.  After  a  most  thorough  investigatior 
instead  of  Mr.  Drennan  being  a  defaulter,  th 
county  was  found  to  be  indebted  to  him  ove 
$200,  which  the  succeeding  Board  of  Supervisor 
paid  him. 

Mr.  Dren nan's  accomplishments  as  a  lawyer  an< 
business  man  are  as  varied  as  the  avenues  of  th 
profession.  He  is  strong  in  all  its  departments,  am 
prosecutes  or  defends  civil  or  criminal  cases  will 
equal  ardor  and  success.  He  has  been  on  almos 
every  important  case  that  has  been  tried  in  Chris 
tian  County  within  the  past  ten  years,  and  ha 
also  practiced  much  in  the  counties  of  Sangamon 
Macon,  Shelby,  Forsythe  and  Montgomery.  H 
has  taken  part  in  more  than  twenty  murder  trial 
with  exceptional  success,  and  he  prosecuted  tin 
only  case  where  capital  punishment  was  admin 
istered  in  the  county.  Mr.  Drennan 's  keen  sens 
of  public  justice  and  his  personal  courage  receivec 
a  powerful  test  in  the  upsand  downs  of  the  famou. 
Emma  Bond  case,  lie  vigorously  prosecuted  the  de 
feudants,  but  when  the  mob  broke  into  the  jail  anc 
took  the  three  defendants  to  the  court  house  yar( 
to  hang  them,  Mr.  Drennan  at  the  risk  of  his  owr 
life,  which  was  loudly  and  furiously  threatened 
faced  the  mob,  and  in  a  speech  of  over  an  houi 
brought  the  maddened  and  misguided  crowd  tc 
their  senses  and  secured  the  return  of  the  prison 
ers  to  the  jail,  for  which  he  received  an  autograpt 
letter  of  thanks  from  Hon.  Shelby  M.  Cullom,  thei 
Governor  of  the  State. 

For  years  Mr.  Drennan  has  been  the  locaKattor- 
ney  for  the  Wabasb  and  Ohio  &  Mississippi  Rail- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


315 


road  Companies,  the  Panama  Coal  Company,  and 
the  First  National  Bank  of  Taylorville,  and  lias 
practiced  much  in  the  Appellate,  Supreme  and 
Federal  Courts.  He  was  one  of  the  attorneys 
that  tested  and  defeated,  in  the  Supreme  Court, 
the  noted  Truck  Store  Law.  He  recently  assisted 
the  United  States  District  Attorney,  Hon.  W.  E. 
Shutt,  in  representing  the  Government  in  tlie  pros- 
ecution of  the  famous  Benton-Newby  case,  in  the 
Federal  Court  at  Springfield,  111.,  in  which  the 
victory  of  the  Government  was  most  signal.  Over 
two  hundred  and  fifty  witnesses  were  examined, 
the  case  lasting  for  two  weeks.  Mr.  Drennan 
opened  the  argument  for  the  Government  in  a 
three-hour  speech,  which  was  characterized  by  the 
St.  Louis,  Springfield  and  other  papers  as  the  most 
powerful  and  convincing  speech  ever  delivered  in 
the  Federal  Court. 

Mr.  Drennan  is  an  industrious,  enterprising  and 
public-spirited  citizen.  He  began  penniless,  and 
has  accumulated  quite  a  competency,  having  now 
over  twelve  hundred  acres  of  good  land  in 
this  county.  He  organized  the  Taylorville  Coal 
Company,  the  Electric  Light  Company,  and  assisted 
in  the  organization  of  the  First  National  Bank  of 
Taylorville,  of  which  he  was  a  Director  until  he 
removed  to  Springfield.  John  E.  Hogan,  a  prom- 
ising young  lawyer,  who  was  formerly  a  student 
of  our  subject,  has  been  in  partnership  with  Mr. 
Drennan  for  several  years,  and  the  connection  still 
continues  in  Taylorville. 

On  the  1st  of  June,  1892,  Hon.  John  M.  Palmer, 
now  United  States  Senator  for  Illinois,  and  Hon. 
"William  E.  Shutt,  now  United  States  District  Attor- 
ney for  the  Southern  District  of  Illinois,  who  have 
for  years  formed  one  of  the  foremost  law  firms 
of  Springfield,  invited  Mr.  Drennan  to  join  them 
as  a  full  partner.  He  accepted  the  offer  and  re- 
moved to  Springfield,  where  he  still  resides,and  we 
are  reliably  informed  that  the  association  has  been 
most  agreeable  as  well  as  profitable  to  all  con- 
cerned. Mr.  Drennan  has  long  held  the  position 
of  Judge  Advocate  of  the  State  of  Illinois  in  the 
Uniformed  Rank  of  the  Order  of  Knights  of 
Pythias,  with  the  rank  of  Colonel,  and  a  like  posi- 
tion on  the  staff  of  Gen.  Barkley,  of  the  Second 
Brigade  of  the  Illinois  National  Guards.  He 
15 


served  several  terras  on  the  Board  of  Aldermen 
in  the  city  of  Taylorville,  and  was  regarded  as  a 
public-spirited  and  efficient  officer. 

On  the  26th  of  May,  1881,  Mr.  Drennan  mar- 
ried Maggie,  daughter  of  Dr.  L.  B.  Slater,  of 
Taylorville.  He  and  his  wife  are  the  happy  pos- 
sessors of  two  energetic  boys:  Leonard  H.,  born 
January  4,  1888;  and  Walter  R.,  born  October  20,' 
1889.  Their  last  child,  a  beautiful  little  girl,  died 
in  infancy.  For  several  years  before  her  marriage, 
Mrs.  Drennan  was  a  teacher  in  the  public  schools 
of  Taylorville.  She  is  an  accomplished  lady,  a 
woman  of  rare  judgment,  and  to  her  wise  counsel, 
faithful  companionship  and  practical  economy,  Mr. 
Drennan  attributes  much  of  his  success.  Our  sub- 
ject is  a  man  of  pleasing  address,  frank  and  open 
in  manner,  though  firm  in  his  convictions.  Quick, 
logical  and  resolute,  possessing  excellent  qualities 
for  combining  forces,  he  is  devoted  to  his  profes- 
sion, and  we  predict  for  him  a  bright  future. 


«|jj?  NDREW  JACKSON  WILLEY  is  the  senior 
||O  member  of  the  firm  of  A.  J.  Willey  &  Son, 

Jfflfi  of  Taylorville,  dealers  in  lumber.  A  na- 
il^ tive  of  Ohio,  he  was  born  in  Ross,  Hamil- 
ton County,  January  31,  1832,  and  is  a  son  of 
Horace  and  Anna  (Tate)  Willey.  His  father  was 
a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  his  mother  of  Penn- 
sylvania, hut  in  youth  they  emigrated  to  Ohio, 
where  their  marriage  was  celebrated.  Their  re- 
maining days  were  spent  in  Hamilton  County, 
where  they  were  highly  respected  citizens.  The 
father  enlisted  for  the  War  of  1812,  but  was  never 
mustered  in. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  spent  the  days  of  his 
boyhood  and  3'outh  in  his  parents'  home,  and  re- 
mained in  the  county  of  his  nativitj7  until  twenty- 
six  years  of  age.  On  attaining  his  majority  he 
left  the  parental  roof  and  began  earning  his  own 
livelihood.  On  the  31st  of  December,  1857,  he 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Mary  Miller,  and 


316 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


in  March,  1858,  emigrated  Westward  with  his 
young  wife.  With  the  hope  of  bettering  his  fi- 
nancial condition  in  Illinois,  he  cast  his  lot  among 
the  early  settlers  of  Christian  County,  locating 
eight  miles  south  of  Taylorville,  on  Buckeye 
Prairie.  He  had  twice  visited  this  county  before, 
and  was  pleased  with  its  prospects  and  advantages. 
With  a  capital  of  $2,000  he  reached  his  destination, 
and  invested  the  same  in  land,  buying  a  partially 
improved  tract  of  two  hundred  acres,  at  $13  per 
acre. 

For  many  years  thereafter,  Mr.  Willey  was  en- 
gaged in  agricultural  pursuits.  He  remained  upon 
his  first  farm  until  1871,  and  increased  its  value 
to  from  $35  to  $40  per  acre.  He  raised  both  grain 
and  stock,  and  made  his  place  one  of  the  best 
farms  in  the  community.  In  1871,  he  came  to 
Taylorville.  He  purchased  a  farm  near  Willey 
Station,  five  miles  from  the  county  seat,  on  the 
Wabash  Road.  That  comprised  two  hundred  and 
forty  acres,  and  he  also  bought  another  tract  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty  acres.  Tins  land  he  op- 
erated successfully  for  fourteen  years,  and  in  addi- 
tion carried  on  stock-raising,  although  he  still 
made  his  home  in  the  city.  In  1884,  however,  he 
retired  from  agricultural  pursuits,  and  in  1887  he 
opened  a  lumber-yard  in  Taylorville,  on  the  Ohio 
&  Mississippi  Railroad. 

In  1875,  Mr.  Willey  was  called  upon  to  mourn 
the  loss  of  his  wife,  who  died  on  the  5th  of  May. 
He  was  again  married,  May  23,  1878,  his  second 
union  being  with  Cordelia,  daughter  of  George 
W.  Vollentine,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Bond 
County,  where  she  was  born.  They  have  one  son, 
Horace  S.,  who  has  been  a  partner  in  the  lumber 
business  since  1889. 

Willey  Station  was  named  in  honor  of  an  uncle 
of  our  subject,  Israel  Willey,  who  is  now  deceased. 
He  gave  the  site  of  the  town  and  did  much  for  its 
upbuilding.  He  came  to  Christian  County  in 
1845,  and  was  one  of  its  large  land-holders.  His 
death  occurred  about  twenty  years  ago. 

In  his  political  views,  Mr.  Willey  has  always 
been  a  Republican  and  ever  votes  that  ticket,  al- 
though he  has  never  been  an  office-seeker.  For 
twenty  years  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  In  addition  to  his  business  in 


Taylorville,  he  is  also  interested  in  Chicago  n 
estate.  He  invested  about  $12,000  in  the  luml 
trade  and  now  does  an  annual  business  of  $40,0( 
In  addition  they  have  a  branch  yard  at  Owanei 
Mr.  Willey  is  a  man  of  good  business  ability,  a 
his  success  in  life  has  been  achieved  as  the  resi 
of  his  labor,  perseverance  and  enterprise.  His  < 
reer  has  been  characterized  by  honorable  dealin. 
and  he  has  therefore  gained  the  confidence  and 
teem  of  all  with  whom  he  has  been  brought 
contact. 


REDERICK  PAYNE,  who  is  now  maki 
s  home  in  Palmer,  is  retired  from  bu 
iss  life,  enjoying  a  well-earned  rest  afi 
years  of  industrious  effort  in  the  battle  of  life.  ] 
is  a  veteran  of  the  late  Civil  War,  and  in  times 
peace  as  well  as  in  the  hour  of  his  country's  pe 
has  been  a  patriotic  citizen.  He  was  born  in  Gi 
rard  County,  Ky.,  February  1, 1826,  being  a  son 
Robert  and  Sarah  (Stipe)  Payne,  who  were  be 
natives  of  the  Blue  Grass  State. 

The  paternal  grandfather  of  our  subject,  A 
brose  Payne,  came  to  America  at  the  time  of  t 
Revolutionary  War,  soon  after  the  close  of  whi 
he  settled  in  Kentucky,  and  there  reared  his  lar 
famil}'.  His  death  occurred  when  he  was  still 
the  prime  of  life.  Frederick  Slipe,  the  rnateri 
grandfather,  was  a  native  of  Scotland.  On  co 
ing  to  America,  he  went  to  Indiana,  where 
made  his  home  for  some  years,  engaged  in  agrici 
tural  pursuits.  In  later  years  he  removed  to  Ke 
tucky,  where  he  lived  to  a  good  old  age. 

The  life  occupation  of  Robert  Pavne  was  th 
of  a  farmer,  and  most  of  his  3'ears  were  spent 
Kentucky.  In  early  life  he  lived  for  four  ye* 
in  Indiana,  but  returned  to  his  native  State.  '. 
1850  he  removed  with  his  family  to  Illinois,  ai 
made  a  settlement  in  Christian  County,  on  Be 
Creek,  in  the  township  of  the  same  name.  The 
he  bought  and  carried  on  a  farm  of  one  hundn 
acres.  He  did  not  long  survive  his  removal,  as  1 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


317 


3ied  July  24,  1851,  aged  fifty-one  years.  His  wife 
iied  a  few  days  later,  on  the  3d  of  August.  They 
were  members  of  the  Baptist  Church,  in  which  Mr. 
Payne  was  an  officer. 

Our  subject  is  one  of  a  large  family  which  con- 
sisted of  five  sons  and  eight  daughters.  Only 
;hree  of  the  number  are  now  living.  Kittie  Jane 
s  the  wife  of  William  T.  Fulcher,  of  Mattoon,  111.; 
ind  Martha  Susan  is  the  wife  of  Frank  Hay,  of 
Indianapolis,  Ind.  The  boyhood  of  Frederick 
Payne  was  passed  in  Kentucky,  and  with  his  par- 
ints  he  removed  to  Illinois  in  1850.  Since  that 
ime  he  has  been  a  resident  of  this  county  with 
he  exception  of  one  year  spent  in  Montgomery 
bounty.  His  early  education  was  received  in  the 
ild-fashioned  subscription  schools  of  the  day. 
iVild  game  was  then  abundant  in  this  region,  and 
'requently  deer,  wolves  and  wild  turkeys  fell  be- 
:ore  his  unerring  aim.  He  resided  with  his  pa^ 
ents  until  reaching  man's  estate.  His  farm  com- 
irises  one  hundred  and  ninety-three  acres  of  good 
and,  a  part  of  which  is  in  the  corporate  limits  of 
he  town.  Mr.  Payne  also  owns  other  desirable 
•illage  properly  and  has  acquired  a  competence 
or  old  age. 

On  the  llth  of  September,  1846,  Mr.  Payne  was 
inited  in  marriage  with  Miss  Mary  Ann  Bell,  a 
laughter  of  Lewis  and  Elizabeth  (Allen)  Bell,  of 
[entueky.  By  this  union  three  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ers  were  born,  who  are  in  order  of  birth  as  fol- 
DWS:  Lewis  F.,  now  deceased;  Robert;  Sarah  E.  and 
Willis  M..  also  deceased;  and  Mary  Jane.  Robert 
larried  Miss  Mary  J.  Compton,  and  has  two  chil- 
,ren,  Emma  and  Robert.  Mary  Jane,  who  became 
lie  wife  of  Thomas  Bradley,  of  Palmer,  is  the  mo- 
her  of  eight  children,  as  follows:  Lillie  Belle, 
Idith  Ann,  Frederick,  Clara  F.,  James,  Minnie 
lay,  Hiram  and  Eva. 

For  a  number  of  years  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Payne  were 
lembcrs  of  the  Baptist  Church,  but  of  late  years 
ave  been  identified  with  the  Christian  Adventist 
Ihurch.  In  politics,  our  subject  is  a  Republican 
nd  served  for  one  year  as  Justice  of  the  Peace, 
)uring  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  he  went  to  the 
efense  of  the  Union,  his  name  being' enrolled  as  [ 

member  of  Company  G,  Fifth  Missouri  Cavalry, 
le  served  for  three  years  and  six  weeks,  taking 


part  in  a  number  of  important  skirmishes  and  bat- 
tles, and  was  sent  in  the  raid  after  Gen.  Price.  He 
is  now  a  member  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Re- 
public. 


JAMES  HENRY  DICKERSON,  one  of  the 
most  prominent  physicians  of  Christian 
County,  now  resides  in  Taylorville,  al- 
though his  practice  extends  far  beyond  the 
limits  of  the  city.  In  professional  circles  he  cer- 
tainly ranks  high,  and  his  skill  and  ability  make 
his  reputation  well  deserved.  The  Doctor  was 
born  in  Washington,  Ind.,  June  24,  1847.  His 
parents,  John  and  Mary  (Bell)  Dickerson,  were 
natives  of  Kentucky,  and  when  young  people 
came  to  Illinois.  They  were  married  in  Sangamon 
County,  and  afterward  removed  to  Indiana.  The 
grandfather,  Isaac  Dickerson,  had  .emigrated  to 
this  State,  but  left  it  for  the  Hoosier  State.  The 
maternal  grandfather,  Robert  Bell,  also  became 
one  of  the  pioneers  of  Sangamon  County.  John 
Dickerson  returned  with  his  family  to  Sangamon 
County,  and  there  lived  for  many  years,  but  he 
and  his  wife  now  reside  on  their  farm  a  mile  west 
of  Taylorville.  Throughout  life  he  has  followed 
agricultural  pursuits.  In  the  family  were  six 
children,  five  of  whom  are  yet  living.  One 
daughter,  Alice,  is  now  the  wife  of  Dr.  A.  F. 
Hammer,  of  Taylorville. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  on\y  three  years 
of  age  when  his  parents  returned  to  Sangamon 
County.  Upon  the  home  farm  he  remained  until 
seventeen,  when  for  two  years  he  attended  the 
State  Normal  School.  He  then  engaged  in  teach- 
ing for  two  winters,  while  in  the  summer  months 
he  aided  his  father  in  the  labors  of  the  field. 
Previous  to  this  time  he  had  begun  reading 
medicine,  and  while  teaching,  during  his  leisure 
hours  and  at  other  spare  moments,  he  studied 
medicine  in  the  office  of  Dr.  Brooks,  of  Spring- 
field. Later  he  pursued  a  course  of  study  in  the 
Philadelphia  Medical  College,  from  which  he  was 
graduated  in  the  Class  of  ^70  with  the  degree 


318 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD 


of  M.  D.  After  thirteen  yenrs  of  practice  he  took 
a  post-graduate  course  in  Rush  Medical  College,  of 
Chicago;  two  years  later  took  the  Bellevue 
regular  course,  and  six  years  afterward,  when  he 
had  practiced  for  twenty  years,  took  the  regular 
course  at  the  medical  department  of  the  California 
University.  The  Doctor  has  spared  neither  labor 
nor  expense  in  perfecting  himself  in  his  profession. 

After  his  first  graduation.  Dr.  Dickerson  located 
at  Blackburn,  which  was  then  scarcely  more  than 
a  blacksmith  shop.  He  expected  to  remain  there 
only  a  short  time,  but  his  practice  steadily  in- 
creased and  yielded  him  a  good  income,  so  that  he 
extended  his  residence  there  until  it  had  covered 
a  period  of  sixteen  years.  After  a  time  he  secured 
the  postofflce  at  that  place,  built  a  store,  and 
carried  a  stock  of  general  merchandise.  He  also 
received  a  liberal  patronage  in  that  line,  enjoying 
a  flourishing  trade. 

On  the  3d  of  Mnrch,  1875,  the  Doctor  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Mary  J.Humphreys, 
daughter  of  A.  B.  N.  Humphreys,  one  of  the 
pioneer  settlers  of  South  Fork  Township.  She  is 
one  of  seveu  children,  three  of  whom  are  now 
living.  Born  in  Springfield,  111.,  she  was  a  maiden 
of  ten  summers  when  her  parents  came  to  Chris- 
tian County.  With  the  Methodist  Church  she 
holds  membership,  and  throughout  thecommunity 
she  is  recognized  as  a  most  estimable  Iad3r. 

In  1886  Dr.  Dickerson  went  to  Los  Angeles, 
Cal.,  where  he  spent  five  years.  He  there  became 
identified  with  the  real-estate  boom  and  made 
considerable  money.  He  still  owns  property  in 
that  place.  He  served  as  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Health  in  Los  Angeles.  In  1892  he  returned 
to  Illinois,  and  has  since  lived  in  Taylorville.  He 
has  sold  his  store  in  Blackburn,  but  still  owns  his 
farm  at  that  place.  Previous  to  his  removal  to 
California  lie  had  engaged  in  practice  in  Taylor- 
ville each  summer,  and  his  merits  had  become  well 
known  throughout  the  community,  so  that  on 
locating  permanently  here  he  was  at  once  ac- 
corded a  liberal  practice,  which  has  constantl}' 
increased.  He  has  served  as  a  member  of  the 
Fifth  Regiment, Illinois  National  Guards,  with  the 
rank  of  Captain.  He  takes  considerable  interest 
in  civic  societies,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-one 


was  made  a  Mason  in  the  lodge  in  Rochester.  I 
is  now  a  member  of  Mound  Lodge  No.  122,  A.  '. 
&  A.  M.;  Taylorville  Chapter  No.  102,  R.  A.  ft 
Cunir  de  Leon  Commandcry  No.  9,  K.  T.,  of  L 
Angeles,  Cal.;  and  Al-Maliakah  Temple,  A.  A.  ' 
M.  S.,  of  Los  Angeles.  He  is  a  member  of  t! 
Knights  of  Pythias,  and  is  serving  as  Major 
the  Second  Regiment,  Second  Brigade,  Unifornn 
Rank,  K.  P.  In  politics,  the  Doctor  was  reared 
Democrat,  but  being  a  man  of  decided  opinio 
and  firm  convictions,  he  does  not  hold  hiinsi 
bound  inseparably  to  any  party.  He  believi 
however,  that  America  is  for  Americans.  He  h 
been  prominently  interested  in  all  that  pertains 
the  welfare  of  the  city  and  the  promotion  of 
leading  enterprises,  and  has  been  connected  wi 
the  Gas  Company  and  the  Antlers  Hotel,  i 
home  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  the  city, 
stands  on  a  natural  building  site,  and  was  erect 
by  G.  J.  S.  Culver,  the  marble  man  of  Springfie! 
It  is  a  monument  to  the  industry  and  enterpr 
of  the  Doctor,  for  his  possessions  have  all  be 
acquired  through  his  own  efforts. 


JOSEPH  CARTER.     Among  the  substant 
and  well-to-do  farmers  of  Assumption  Ton 
ship  is  this  gentleman,  who  is  one  of  t 
honored  old  settlers  of   Christian  Coum 
He  is  well  and  favorably  known  in  this  and   a 
joining  counties,  and  merits  in  a  high  degree  t 
respect   in    which    he    is    held    by   all    who  ha 
the  pleasure  of  his  acquaintance.     He  has  assist 
very  materially    in    the    marvelous   growth    ai 
prosperity  of  the  community  in  which   he   mat 
his  home,  and  it  is  fitting  that  his  name  should 
placed  in  this  record  of  the    honored   pioneers 
the  county. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  a  native  of  Oh 
boni  in  Warren  County  September  26,  1832,  ai 
is  a  son  of  John  Carter,  a  native  of  Virginia.  T 
latter  went  to  Ohio  in  his  early  manhood,  and  the 
married  Miss  Jemima  Patton,  whose  birth  occurn 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


in  the  Buckeye  State.  For  several  years  after  his 
marriage,  Mr.  Carter  engaged  in  farming  in  War- 
ren County  with  good  success,  and  then  removed 
to  Indiana,  settling  in  Clay  County,  twelve  miles 
east  of  Terre  Haute.  Here  he  opened  up  a  farm, 
and  reared  his  family  to  lives  of  usefulness.  The 
last  few  years  of  his  life  he  lived  retired  from  ac- 
tive duties  in  Greencastle,  and  passed  away  in 
1865.  During  the  War  of  1812,  he  was  pressed 
into  the  service  and  was  assigned  to  the  department 
of  artillery. 

Joseph  Carter  is  one  of  a  family  of  seven  sons 
and  two  daughters.  The  brothers,  who  all  grew 
to  mature  years,  married  and  became  heads  of 
families.  One  brother,  C.  N.,  now  resides  in  Kan- 
sas City,  and  is  a  retired  merchant.  The  only  other 
surviving  brother  is  Jasper  N.,  who  is  engaged  in 
farming  in  Neosho  County,  Kan. 

Our  subject  grew  to  manhood  in  Indiana,  and 
spent  his  youth  on  his  father's  farm,  receiving 
there  a  practical  experience  in  all  the  duties  which 
fall  to  an  agriculturist  and  which  have  served 
him  in  good  stead  in  later  years.  In  his  studies  he 
was  diligent  and  made  the  most  of  his  advantages 
in  that  direction.  He  remained  with  his  father 
until  he  had  arrived  at  his  majority,  after  which 
he  learned  the  carpenter's  trade  at  Greencastle 
and  followed  thatcalling  for  a  few  years.  He  then 
formed  a  partnership  with  three  of  his  brothers, 
and  engaged  in  the  flouring  and  grist  mill  business. 
In  this  he  continued  for  about  five  years  with  very 
good  success.  In  the  fall  of  1866,  he  came  to  Illi- 
nois and  bought  a  tract  of  one  hundred  and  twent}^ 
acres  of  raw  prairie  land,  the  same  farm  which  he 
now  cultivates.  He  erected  a  small  house  and 
brought  his  family  to  his  new  home.  When  he 
first  settled  here  nothing  whatever  had  been  done 
for  the  improvement  of  the  land,  and  as  it  stands 
to-day,  a  model  farm  with  good  buildings,  neat 
hedges  and  other  improvements,  it  is  a  monument 
to  his  own  industrious  efforts,  for  it  bears  little  re- 
semblance to  the  original  farm  on  which  he  located. 
In  1867,  he  bought  an  adjoining  forty  acres,  thus 
making  his  farm  contain  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres.  There  is  a  good  orchard  on  the  place  and 
the  fields  are  subdivided  by  a  well-trimmed  osage 
hedge.  Mr.  Carter  also  owns  a  good  farm  of  two 


hundred  and  twenty-four  acres  in  Shelby  County, 
two  small  farms  in  Neosho  County,  Kan.,  besides  a 
house  and  lot  in  Assumption. 

In  1860  occurred  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Carter  in 
Greencastle,  Ind.  The  lady  of  his  choice,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Harriet  M.  Sever,  was  a  native 
of  England  and  passed  her  girlhood  in  that  coun- 
try. Two  children  have  graced  this  union.  War- 
ren, the  elder,  is  deceased;  and  Elmer  E.  is  assist- 
ing his  father  in  carrying  on  the  home  farm.  The 
mother  died  in  1884.  She  was  an  amiable  and 
thoroughly  lovable  lady,  who  numbered  many 
friends  in  the  neighborhood  of  her  home. 

Politically,  Mr.  Carter  has  ever  supported  the 
Republican  party  and  principles  since  becoming  a 
voter.  He  is  an  advocate  of  the  best  educational 
measures  and  served  for  nine  years  as  a  member  of 
the  School  Board.  For  over  a  quarter  of  a  century 
he  has  been  a  resident  of  this  county,  and  has  pro- 
moted its  interests  in  every  possible  manner.  He 
is  honored  and  respected  by  his  friends  and  neigh- 
bors as  a  man  of  integrity  and  sterling  worth. 


ORLANDO  MANVILL  HAWKES,  whose  hon- 
orable, upright  life  has  won  him  the  confi- 
dence and  esteem  of  all  with  whom  he  has 
been  brought  in  contact,  is  now  engaged  in  farm- 
ing on  section  26,  Rosemond  Township.  He  was 
born  in  Franklin  County,  Mass.,  November  14, 
18'20.  The  family  was  founded  in  America  by 
three  brothers  of  English  birth,  who  emigrated  to 
this  country  in  early  Colonial  days  and  located  in 
Massachusetts.  One  was  made  an  officer  in  the 
French  and  Indian  War,  and  was  killed  in  that 
struggle.  Their  descendants  are  now  very  num- 
erous, over  five  hundred  members  of  the  family 
having  assembled  at  a  re-union  in  Salem,  Mass.,  a 
few  years  ago.  One  of  the  three  brothers  was  the 
great-grandfather  of  our  subject.  The  grand- 
father, Jared  Hawkes,  was  the  first  male  child  born 
in  Charlemout,  Mass. 


320 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


The  parents  of  our  subject,  Horace  and  Rachel 
(Smedley)  Hawkes,  were  also  natives  of  the  Bay 
State,  and  there  spent  their  entire  lives,  the  father 
dying  at  the  age  of  eighty-five,  while  the  mother 
reached  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-one.  In  their 
family  of  twelve  children,  our  subject  was  fourth 
in  order  of  birth.  His  boyhood  days  were  quietly 
passed  under  the  parental  roof,  and  his  education 
was  acquired  in  the  common  schools,  and  in  the 
academy  at  Charlemont. 

On  the  1st  of  September,  1846,  Mr.  Hawkes  of 
this  sketch  married  Debby  A.  Hawley,  who  was 
born  in  Hinsdale,  Mass.,  March  19,  1824,  and  is  of 
English  descent.  Her  parents  were  William  A. 
and  Debby  A.  Hawley.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hawkes  be- 
gan their  domestic  life  upon  a  farm  in  Franklin 
County,  Mass.,  where  they  resided  until  1854. 
Going  to  Buffalo,  N.  Y..  our  subject  became  clerk 
in  a  hotel,  and  in  the  spring  of  1856  he  emigrated 
to  Christian  County.  His  was  one  of  the  first  fami- 
lies to  settle  in  Rosemond  Township.  He  pur- 
chased a  tract  of  land  and  began  the  development 
of  a  farm.  The  county  was  in  its  primitive  con- 
dition, deer  and  wolves  were  seen  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, and  the  work  of  progress  and  civiliza- 
tion seemed  scarcely  begun. 

Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hawkes  were  born  ten  chil- 
dren, as  follows:  Emma,  wife  of  William  O.  Wil- 
cox;  Nellie  C.,  who  died  at  the  age  of  eleven  years; 
Herbert  H.,  now  of  New  York  City;  Henry  M., 
who  is  in  business  in  New  York  City;  Leila  A., 
wife  of  Wellington  Walker,  of  Springfield,  Mass.; 
Martha  O.,  wife  of  Herbert  V.  Bullock,  who  is  in 
the  Globe-Democrat  office  of  St.  Louis;  Mary  A., 
twin  sister  of  Martha,  now  the  wife  of  Marion 
Nicholson,  of  Rosemond  Township;  Flora  A.,  wife 
of  Clinton  Hawkes,  of  Massachusetts;  Edwin  A., 
who  for  seven  years  was  in  business  in  New  York 
City,  but  is  now  at  home;  and  Joseph  B.,  who  is 
also  in  New  York  City. 

Mr.  Hawkes  cast  his  first  Presidential  vote  for 
William  Henry  Harrison,  in  1840,  and  has  never 
failed  to  support  a  Presidential  candidate  since 
thattime.  He  has  been  a  stalwart  Republican  si  nee 
the  organization  of  the  party.  During  the  late  war 
he  was  a  member  of  the  Union  League,  and  is  now 
a  member  of  the  Good  Templars'  Society.  He  has 


always  been  a  strong  temperance  man,  using  neithei 
intoxicants  nor  tobacco, and  with  one  exception  al 
of  his  sons  abstain  from  the  use  of  the  latter 
Since  twenty-one  years  of  age,  Mr.  Hawkes  hai 
been  a  faithful  and  consistent  member  of  the  Con 
gregational  Church,  and,  with  the  exception  01 
three  years,  has  been  Deacon  of  the  church  ir 
Rosemond  since  locating  here.  He  has  also  been 
Trustee,  and  was  Superintendent  of  the  first  Sun 
day-school  organized  in  the  place.  On  varioui 
occasions  lie  has  again  filled  the  office.  Heisalway: 
found  in  his  place  in  the  house  of  worship,  anc 
has  been  one  of  the  prominent  leaders  in  churcl 
work  in  this  community,  untiring  in  his  efforts  t< 
promote  the  Master's  cause.  He  believes  in  prac 
tical  Christianity,  is  charitable  and  benevolent,  ii 
generous  and  open-handed,  and  to  the  poor  an( 
needy  is  a  friend. 


JAMES  BENJAMIN  RICKS,  a  member  of  tin 
law  firm  of  Ricks  &  Creighton,  is  one  of  th< 
leading  lawyers  of  Taylorville.     Probablj 
no  man  in  this  city  has  been   more   promi 
nently  connected  with  its  growth  and   upbuilding 
than  he,  and  the  prosperity  of  the  place  is  due  ii 
no  small  degree  to  his  untiring  efforts  in   its  be 
half.     Christian  County  claims  him  as  one  of  hei 
native    sons,  his   birth    having   occurred    in  Beai 
Creek  Township,  on  the  23d  of  December,  1852. 

Mr.  Ricks  is  the  eldest  in  a  family  of  five  chil 
dren  whose  parents  were  John  Bond  and  Docia  B 
(Hines)  Ricks.  When  lie  was  a  lad  of  twelve 
years  his  parents  removed  to  Taylorville,  and,  af- 
ter attending  the  public  schools  of  that  city,  ir 
1869  he  entered  the  Wesleyan  University  ol 
Bloomingtou,  111.,  where  he  pursued  his  studies 
until  1872.  A  professional  life  furnished  attrac- 
tions for  him,  and  he  began  the  study  of  law  with 
Judge  Andrew  Simpson  and  John  B.  Jones,  attor- 
neys of  Taylorville.  Having  successfully  passed 
a  thorough  examination,  he  was  admitted  to  the 
Bar  in  June,  1874. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


321 


On  the  23d  of  December,  1872,  on  his  twentieth 
birthday,  Mr.  Ri'cks  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Miss  Pamtnie  L.  Geltmacher,  of  Bloomington. 
Their  union  has  been  blessed  with  three  children, 
who  are  still  living:  Agnes,  who  is  now  the  wife 
of  W.  II.  Houser,  D.  D.  S.,  of  Taylorville;  Jesse 
and  Glenu,  aged  respectively  fourteen  and  nine 
years.  In  social  circles  this  family  ranks  high,  and 
the  household  is  the  abode  of  hospitality. 

Immediately  after  his  admission  to  the  Bar,  Mr. 
Ricks  began  practice,  and  continued  alone  until 
1885,  when  the  present  partnership  was  formed. 
He  is  an  able  and  successful  lawyer,  and  the  public 
affords  him  a  liberal  patronage.  In  politics,  he  is 
a  stalwart  supporter  of  the  Democratic  party,  and 
has  taken  an  active  part  in  campaign  work,  doing 
all  in  his  power  to  promote  the  interests  of  Democ- 
racy. He  has  frequently  served  in  positions  of 
public  trust,  and  spent  three  years  in  Washington 
as  Supervising  Examiner  of  the  Pension  Bureau, 
from  the  Hudson  District,  having  about  one  hun- 
dred special  examiners  under  his  charge.  In 
June,  1892,  he  served  as  delegate  to  the  National 
Democratic  Convention  in  Chicago,  and  strongly 
advocated  the  nomination  of  President  Cleveland. 
In  1889  he  was  elected  Mayor  of  Taylorville, 
serving  a  term  of  two  years,  and  his  administra- 
tion proved  to  be  a  prosperous  era  in  the  history 
of  the  city.  During  his  term  the  electric-light 
system  was  established,  and  many  other  works  of 
public  improvement  were  put  in  operation.  Mr. 
Ricks  started  the  petition  for  the  establishment 
of  water  works.  While  reading  law  with  Mr. 
Jones,  he  drew  plans  which  changed  the  old  town 
to  a  village,  and  after  one  year  drew  up  a  petition 
to  make  Taylorville  a  city,  which  was  done.  While 
running  for  Mayor  he  plainly  stated  that  he 
would  not  accept  the  office  unless  the  water  works 
system  was  strengthened,  and 'so  during  his  term 
this  commendable  work  was  accomplished.  The 
water  supply  was  doubled,  the  original  plant, 
worth  $20,000,  was  supplemented  by  one  worth 
$50,000,  and  then  miles  of  mains  were  laid.  Ev- 
ery work  calculated  to  benefit  the  community  and 
promote  the  general  welfare  receives  the  hearty 
support  and  co-operation  of  Mr.  Ricks,  and  the 
gratitude  of  the  city  is  due  him  in  no  small  degree. 


He  was  also  one  of  the  promoters  and  is  one  of 
the  Directors  of  the  Gas  Company,  and  was  one  of 
the  prime  movers  in  establishing  and  building  the 
Antlers  Hotel. 

In  social  circles,  Mr.  Ricks  is  also  prominent. 
A  member  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  he  served  as 
Grand  Chancellor  in  1885  and  in  1886,  and  is  now 
Past  Grand  Chancellor.  He  was  made  a  member 
of  the  fraternity  in  Mystic  Lodge  No.  64,  K.  P., 
and  has  passed  all  the  chairs  of  the  local  order. 
He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Arion  Club,  and  takes 
an  active  part  in  its  gatherings.  A  pleasant,  gen- 
ial gentleman,  Mr,  Ricks  is  very  popular,  and  his 
friends  throughout  the  community  are  many. 


P ^RANKLIN  PIERCE  DRENNAN,  attorney- 
at-law  of  Taylorville,  is  a  highly  respected, 
widely  known  and  influential  citizen,  and 
a  worthy  representative  of  one  of  the  prominent 
pioneer  families  of  the  county.  Mention  is  made 
of  his  parents,  John  L.  and  Henrietta  (Wimburley) 
Drennan,  on  another  page  of  this  work.  They 
were  also  born  in  Kentucky.  The  father  died 
September  5,  1882,  at  the  age  of  fifty-five  years. 
His  widow  is  still  living,  at  the  age  of  sixty-four, 
and  her  mother,  Emily  Sanders,  yet  resides  in 
Taylorville,  at  the  ripe  old  age  of  eighty-six. 
John  L.  Drennan  is  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and 
on  his  arrival  in  this  county,  in  1856,  located  upon 
a  farm  of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  in  Mos- 
quito Township,  where  he  made  his  home  until 
called  to  his  final  rest.  In  politics,  he  was  a  sup- 
porter of  the  Democratic  party,  and  for  a  number 
of  years  served  as  Supervisor  of  his  township.  The 
family  numbered  fourteen  children,  and  all  are 
yet  living  with  the  exception  of  Oscar  W.,  who 
died  in  January,  1893,  at  the  age  of  twenty  years. 
Franklin  Pierce  Drennan  was  born  near  Prince- 
ton, Caldwell  Count}',  Ky.,  March  15,  1853,  and  is 
the  second  child  of  his  parents.  With  the  family 
he  came  to  Illinois,  and  amid  the  wild  scenes  of 
frontier  life  was  reared  to  manhood.  The  public 


322 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


schools  of  the  neighborhood  afforded  him  his  edu- 
cational privileges,  and  he  remained  at  home  until 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  when  he  started  out  in 
life  for  himself.  At  first  he  earned  his  livelihood 
as  a  teacher  in  the  public  schools  near  his  home. 
Subsequently  he  secured  the  position  of  Deputy 
County  Clerk  under  William  H.  Kirkwood,  in 
whose  office  he  remained  for  eighteen  months, 
from  July  1,  1876,  until  December  1,  1877.  At 
that  time  he  was  made  Deputy  Circuit  Clerk,  and 
served  for  three  years  under  Josiah  A.  Hill,  and 
for  the  same  length  of  time  under  N.  D.  Ricks. 

In  the  mean  time  Mr.  Drennan  had  been  reading 
law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  January, 
1882,  having  passed  the  examination  before  the 
November  term  of  the  Appellate  Court  the  preced- 
ing year.  However,  he  continued  in  the  County 
Clerk's  office  until  1883.  He  had  secured  a  set  of 
abstract  books,  and  in  1883  combined  the  practice 
of  his  chosen  profession  with  abstract  work.  For 
a  year  he  was  in  partnership  with  Judge  Ferry, 
but  since  that  time  has  been  alone.  In  December, 
1892,  the  Christian  County  Abstract  Rating  and 
Guarantee  Company  was  incorporated,  and  Mr. 
Drennau  became  its  President.  This  combines 
three  sets  of  abstracts,  the  only  ones  in  the  county 
besides  that  owned  by  N.  D.  Ricks.  The  capital 
stock  of  the  company  is  $20,000,  and  our  subject 
is  the  leading  stockholder.  James  E.  Mills  is  Sec- 
retary and  business  manager  of  the  company.  In 
his  law  practice,  Mr.  Drennan  has  met  with  excel- 
lent success,  receiving  a  liberal  share  of  the  public 
patronage.  He  lias  given  special  attention  to  real- 
estate  cases  and  land  titles,  his  experience  in  ab- 
stract work,  and  as  Deputy  County  and  Circuit 
Clerk,  having  been  of  special  advantage  to  him  in 
this  direction. 

On  the  29th  of  May,  1881,  our  subject  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Lizzie  May,  daugh- 
ter of  W.  S.  Moore,  now  of  Morrisonville,Ill.  She 
was  born  in  Taylorville,  in  1863,  and  is  a  cultured 
and  refined  lady,  who  holds  an  enviable  position 
in  the  circles  of  society  in  which  she  moves.  Two 
children  grace  their  union,  Lela  Moore  and  Frances 
Patti,  aged  eight  and  five  years,  respectively. 

Mr.  Drennan  is  a  Democrat  in  politics,  and  has 
taken  an  active  part  in  campaign  work.  He  was 


appointed  by  the  Circuit  Judge  as  Master  ii 
Chancery,  and  for  two  years  held  that  olfice.  H 
has  been  quite  extensively  interested  in  real  estate 
and  laid  out  the  F.  P.  Drennan  Addition  to  Tay 
lorville.  In  connection  with  John  B.  Colegrovt 
he  laid  out  two  additions  to  Assumption.  He  ha 
also  a  ten-acre  addition  to  Pana,  and  in  additio: 
to  this  he  has  another  ten-acre  tract  near  Pans 
His  farm  of  eighty  acres  is  situated  seven  an 
a-half  miles  south  of  Taylorville,  and  he  has 
twenty-seven  acre  tract  southeast  of  the  city.  Fc 
three  years  he  has  been  engaged  in  breeding  an 
training  fine  trotters.  Socially,  he  is  a  Knighl 
Templar  Mason,  belonging  to  Elwood  Commai 
dery  of  Springfield.  Mr.  Drennan  is  ambitious,  pei 
severing  and,  above  all,  enterprising,  and  owin 
to  these  sterling  qualities,  he  has  not  only  won  tb 
high  rank  to  which  he  has  attained  among  his  pro 
fessional  brethren,  but  has  also  gained  hissplendi 
success  in  other  lines  of  business.  He  takes  a 
active  part  in  all  that  goes  to  promote  the  welfai 
of  the  county,  and  deserves  to  be  classed  amon 
her  honored  early  settlers. 


JOHN  BEYERS,  a  retired  farmer  and  stocl 
dealer,  now  living  in  Pana,  is  a  native  < 
Germany.  He  was  born  in  Hesse  Darn 
stadt,  March  26,  1821.  His  parents,  Job 
and  Margaret  (Ernst)  Beyers,  spent  their  eutii 
lives  in  their  native  land.  There  were  only  tw 
children  born  of  that  union,  and  Adam,  tl 
brother,  is  now  deceased.  The  mother  died  at  tl 
age  of  twenty-eight,  when  John  was  a  babe  < 
three  summers,  after  which  his  father  marric 
again,  and  by  his  second  union  had  one  daughtc 
There  was  also  a  daughter  born  of  his  third  ma 
riage.  He  was  a  trader  on  the  river,  and  owned 
vessel,  which  was  used  in  commercial  interest 
His  death  occurred  when  about  sixty-eight  yea 
of  age. 

The  gentleman  whose  name  heads  this  recor 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


323 


remained  at  home  with  his  father  until  about 
eighteen  years  of  age,  when  he  was  drafted  into 
the  regular  army,  in  which  he  served  for  four 
years.  The  following  year,  in  1847,  he  bade 
adieu  to  home  and  friends,  and,  in  company  with 
some  acquaintances  of  his  youth,  sailed  for  Amer- 
ica. His  first  location  was  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio, 
where  he  remained  for  a  few  months,  when  he  re- 
moved to  Franklin's  Landing,  Ohio,  where  the 
succeeding  two  years  of  his  life  were  passed. 

During  that  time,  Mr.  Beyers  was  married.  On 
the  loth  of  September,  1849,  he  wedded  Miss 
Sarah  Shepherd,  daughter  of  Xaphier  Shepherd, 
who  was  born  in  Baden,  Germany.  They  have 
become  parents  of  eight  children,  seven  sons  and 
a  daughter,  but  the  latter  died  in  infancy.  Henry, 
the  eldest,  wedded  Mary  J.  Enders,  and  resides  on 
a  farm,  three  miles  from  Pana,  with  his  wife  and 
three  children,  Celia,  Herman  and  Arthur.  Joseph, 
who  is  also  a  farmer,  living  near  Pana,  married 
Emma  Eckholt,  and  they  have  three  children: 
Lizzie,  John  and  Benjamin.  Frank  A.  married 
Minnie  Goodhouse,  by  whom  he  has  two  sons  and 
a  daughter:  Sadie,  William  and  Frank.  John  S., 
an  agriculturist,  married  Barbara  Wagner,  and 
unto  them  has  been  born  a  daughter,  Gertrude. 
Louise  F.  is  the  next  younger.  Edward  married 
Tillie  Goodhart,  and  with  their  daughter,  Nellie 
Louise,  they  reside  on  a  farm  north  of  Assumption. 
Goodhart,  the  youngest  of  the  family,  was 
drowned  in  the  Ohio  River,  at  the  age  of  three 
years. 

Mr.  Beyers  came  to  Illinois  in  November,  1867, 
trading  his  business  in  Ohio  for  seventj'-five  acres 
of  land.  This  he  traded  for  one  hundred  and 
seventy  acres,  three  miles  southwest  of  Pana, 
where  he  made  his  home  until  1882.  As  his  finan- 
cial resources  increased,  he  extended  the  boun- 
daries of  his  farm  until  it  comprised  four  hundred 
and  sixty-eight  acres  of  valuable  land.  The  fields 
were  placed  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  and 
the  farm  was  supplied  with  all  modern  improve 
ments  and  conveniences.  He  also  engaged  quite 
extensively  in  stock-dealing,  and  his  efforts  in 
this  direction  also  met  with  good  success.  Having 
purchased  some  lots  in  Pana,  he  built  a  fine  resi- 
dence upon  one  of  these  in  1882,  and  has  since 


here  made  his  home,  surrounded  by  all  the  com- 
forts and  many  of  the  luxuries  of  life.  Himself 
and  wife  are  members  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and, 
in  politics,  he  is  an  advocate  of  Democratic  prin- 
ciples. He  has  made  his  money  through  his  own 
labors,  perseverance  and  well-directed  efforts  and 
the  assistance  of  his  estimable  wife.  He  is  a  man 
of  generous  impulses,  and  has  given  his  children  a 
good  start  in  life. 


WILLIAM  LANGEN  is  a  prominent  young 
farmer  and  citizen  of  Ricks  Township, 
where  he  is  engaged  in  carrying  on  the 
old  homestead  on  section  30  which  formerly  be- 
longed to  his  father,  Theodore  Langen.  He  is 
one  of  the  progressive  agriculturists  of  this  com- 
munity, and  has  been  very  successful  in  general 
farming  and  stock-raising.  He  was  born  Septem- 
ber 17,  1861,  in  Greene  Count}',  111.,  and  has  spent 
nearly  his  entire  life  in  Christian  County,  in  the 
development  of  which  he  has  done  his  share. 

Theodore  F.  Langen,  our  subject's  father,  was 
born  in  the  village  of  Wiennenburg,  Prussia,  Feb- 
ruary 27,  1827.  His  parents  were  Frederick  and 
Elizabeth  (Wegener)  Langen,  and  he  was  the 
youngest  of  eight  children.  His  father  being  a 
farmer  in  good  circumstances,  he  received  superior 
educational  advantages,  and  attended  the  higher 
schools,  where  he  always  stood  at  the  head  of  his 
class  and  became  proficient  in  Latin.  He  served 
for  three  years  in  the  Prussian  army  during  the 
Revolution  of  1848.  In  the  spring  of  1852  he 
landed  in  New  York,  and  proceeded  to  Jersey 
County,  111.,  in  which  county  his  brother  was  liv- 
ing. On  the  17th  of  October,  1855,  he  married 
Elizabeth  Brockamp,  who  was  born  in  Allenburg, 
Germany,  March  10,  1840,  being  a  daughter  of 
Henry  B.  and  Catherine  (Morman)  Brockamp. 
Her  father,  who  died  in  February,  1870,  was 
for  many  years  previous  engaged  in  operating  his 
farm  seven  miles  west  of  Jerseyville.  He  was  a 
blacksmith  by  trade,  and  had  served  in  the  German 


324 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


army.     Mrs.    Langen    came  to   America  with  her 
parents  when  five  years  of  age. 

After  his  marriage,  the  father  of  our  subject 
removed  to  Greene  County,  this  State,  and  rented  | 
a  farm  three  miles  distant  from  Carrollton,  where 
he  resided  for  eight  years.  In  the  spring  of 
1853  he  came  to  Christian  County  and  bought 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  wild  land  on  sec- 
tion 30,  Ricks  Township.  He  made  the  road  and 
surveyed  it  from  his  farm  to  Nokomis,  fourteen 
miles  across  the  prairie.  The  country  was  wild 
and  the  farm  unimproved,  but  he  was  industrious 
and  energetic,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  left  six 
hundred  and  forty  acres,  which  were  divided  among 
his  children.  He  died  August  31,  1876,  in  the  faith 
of  the  Catholic  Church,  to  which  his  family  all 
belonged.  He  was  straightforward  and  upright  in 
his  business  and  made  many  friends.  In  politics, 
he  was  a  Democrat.  His  wife  was  appointed  ad- 
ministrator of  his  estate  and  wisely  managed  the 
affairs.  Sho  is  now  living  in  Morrisonville,  where 
she  has  a  pleasant  residence  and  makes  her  home 
with  her  youngest  daughter.  She  gave  her  chil- 
dren good  educations,  and  her  daughters  attended 
the  convent  at  St.  Louis,  where  they  became  pro- 
ficient in  music  and  other  accomplishments. 

In  the  spring  of  1863  William  Langen  came 
with  his  parents  to  Christian  County  and  assisted 
his  father  in  improving  his  land,  which  was  nearly 
all  a  swamp.  After  his  father's  death  he  contin- 
ued to  make  his  home  with  his  mother,  brothers 
and  sisters.  Of  the  children,  Henry  lives  in  Mor- 
risonville and  is  married.  His  wife  was  formerly 
Miss  Amelia  Schwab.  Katie  is  the  wife  of  Antony 
Lantz,  of  Morrisonville.  Mary  is  the  wife  of  Her- 
man Todt,  a  farmer  living  in  Montgomery  Coun- 
ty. Eleanora  is  the  wife  of  Frank  Todt,  of  the 
same  county.  John,  who  is  also  a  farmer  there, 
married  Maggie  Todt.  Elizabeth  and  Helena  live 
at  the  home  of  their  mother  in  Morrisonville. 

The  education  of  William  Langen  was  acquired 
in  the  common  schools  and  in  Alton,  111.,  where 
for  two  winters  he  attended  the  German  Catholic 
school,  where  his  brothers  and  sisters  were  also 
students.  Until  reaching  his  majority  he  lived  on 
the  old  homestead,  of  which  he  had  charge  for 
many  years.  His  farm  comprises  two  hundred 


and  forty  acres,  in  addition  to  which  he  operates 
another  farm  of  a  like  amount.  He  lias  brought 
the  place  under  good  improvement  and  has  laid 
over  four  miles  of  tile  on  the  farm. 

In  Raymond,  Mr.  Langen  was  married  in  Sep- 
tember, 1885,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Todt,  a  daughter 
of  John  and  Mary  Todt,  both  natives  of  Germany. 
She  was  reared  to  womanhood  on  her  father's 
farm,  located  five  miles  north  of  Raymond,  and 
received  her  education  in  the  public  schools  and 
the  convent  at  Litchfield.  "  She  has  become  the 
mother  of  five  children:  Johnnie, Theodore,  Mary, 
Joseph  and  Florence.  Our  subject  has  served  for 
six  successive  years  as  Township  Commissioner 
and  is  now  School  Director.  His  first  Presidential 
ballot  was  cast  for  Grover  Cleveland,  and  he  al- 
ways votes  on  the  side  of  the  Democratic  party. 
He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Catholic 
Church  at  Morrisonville,  and  are  highly  respected 
in  this  vicinity. 


y>ILLIAMM.  PROVINE,an  attorney-at-law 
of  Taylorville,  111.,  was  born  in  McDon- 
ough  County,  111..  August  22,  1841.  His 
father  and  mother  are  now  living,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-seven,  in  Vermont, 111.,  where  the  boyhood 
days  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  were  mostly 
spent.  His  education  was  acquired  in  the  com- 
mon schools,  supplemented  by  a  few  months  in  an 
academy  at  Macomb,  111.  After  a  short  expe- 
rience as  a  clerk  and  school  teacher  successively, 
he  enlisted  on  July  30,  1862,  in  Company  B, 
Eighty-fourth  Regiment  of  Illinois  Infantry,  and 
was  elected  Sergeant  on  the  organization  of  the 
company.  He  was  afterward  elected  First  Ser- 
geant, and  in  1863  First  Lieutenant.  He  served 
in  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  in  all  its  campaigns 
until  July  20,  1864,  when  he  was  taken  prisoner 
at  Peach  Tree  Creek,  in  front  of  Atlanta,  Ga. 
Shortly  afterward  he  was  one  of  six  hundred  Un- 
ion officers  who  were  placed  by  the  Confederates 
in  the  city  of  Charleston  under  fire  of  the  Union 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


325 


guns  on  Morris  Island.  From  Charleston  the 
prisoners  were  removed  to  Columbia,  S.  C.,  and 
on  March  1,  1865,  were  exchanged  at  Wilmington, 
N.  C.  Upon  the  expiration  of  his  thirty  days' 
leave  of  absence,  the  war  being  over,  he  was 
ordered  to  Ben  ton  Barracks,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  where 
he  was  assigned  to  duty  as  adjutant  of  paroled 
prisoners,  who  were  then  coming  North  in  large 
numbers.  He  was  discharged- from  the  service 
May  15,  1865. 

After  a  brief  visit  to  his  home,  our  subject  en- 
tered Mayhew's  Business  College,  at  Albion,  Mich., 
where  after  completing  the.course  of  study  he  re- 
mained two  years  as  Principal  of  the  "theory  de- 
partment," reading  law  in  the  mean  time.  On 
severing  his  connection  with  the  college,  Mr.  Pro- 
vine  entered  the  law  office  of  Palmer  &  Hay,  of 
Springfield,  and  was  admitted,  upon  examination, 
to  the  Bar  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  fall  of 
1868.  He  was  tendered  and  accepted  the  position 
of  Cashier  of  the  Farmers'  and  Mechanics'  Bank 
of  Galesburg,  111.,  but,  preferring  the  law,  resigned 
his  position  there  after  a  year's  service.  Since 
1872  he  has  resided  continuously  in  Taylorville, 
and  devoted  his  energies  assiduously  to  his  chosen 
profession.  His  attention  is  chiefly  devoted  to 
commercial  and  chancery  laws.  He  is  an  able  ad- 
vocate, and  receives  from  the  public  a  liberal  pat- 
ronage, which  is  well  deserved.  In  politics,  he 
was  long  a  supporter  of  the  Republican  party, 
but  in  1888  and  again  in  1892  he  voted  for  Mr. 
Cleveland  for  the  Presidency,  on  account  of  his 
views  on  the  tariff  question. 

Other  interests  have  found  in  Mr.  Provine  a 
supporter.  He  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the 
First  National  Bank  of  Taylorville,  and  since  its 
organization  has  been  one  of  its  Directors.  He 
has  served  on  the  Township  Board  of  Education 
since  its  organization  and  is  President  of  the  Board, 
which  numbers  five  members.  Under  their  super- 
vision and  through  their  instrumentality  the  fine 
High  School  building  of  Taylorville  was  erected  in 
1890,  the  building  and  grounds  being  valued  at 
$32,000.  Mr.  Provine  takes  a  commendable  in- 
terest in  educational  matters  and  in  every  enter- 
prise calculated  to  prove  of  public  benefit. 

On  the  llth  of  May,  1869,  in  Vermont,  111.,  was 


celebrated  the  marriage  of  William  M.  Provine 
and  Mary  Murray.  They  have  two  children. 
Bertha  graduated  from  Oxford  College  of  Ohio, 
in  the  Class  of  '91,  and  is  now  a  teacher  of  litera- 
ture and  languages  in  the  High  School  of  Taylor- 
ville. She  is  a  cultured  and  refined  young  lady, 
and  has  marked  ability  as  an  instructor.  Walter 
is  now  a  student  in  the  High  School.  The  parents 
are  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  Mr. 
Provine  is  connected  with  the  Masonic  fraternity. 


§ENJAMIN  H.  HAILEY,  who  is  engaged  in 
the  grocery  business  in  Palmer,  is  one  of 
the  veterans  of  the  late  war,  having  en- 
listed for  the  defense  of  the  Old  Flag  when 
he  was  only  twenty  years  of  age.  He  saw  much 
active  service,  taking  part  in  many  of  the  impor- 
tant battles  and  skirmishes.  He  may  justly  be 
proud  of  his  army  record,  for  few  men  were  called 
upon  to  do  more  active  duty  and  suffer  more 
hardships.  In  local  affairs  he  has  been  prominent 
for  many  years,  and  has  always  been  esteemed  as 
one  of  the  most  public-spirited  citizens  of  the  place. 
He  was  the  genial  and  efficient  Postmaster  for 
four  years  under  Harrison's  administration,  retir- 
ing from  that  office  in  June,  1893,  of  his  own  ac- 
cord. 

Born  in  Sangamon  County,  111.,  January  9, 
1841,  Mr.  Hailey  is  a  son  of  Thomas  J.  and  Mel- 
venia  M.  (Higgins)  Hailey.  They  were  the  parents 
of  two  children,  our  subject,  and  Edward,  who 
died  in  1864,  shortly  after  being  discharged  from 
the  army,  on  account  of  disease  contracted  while 
in  the  service.  He  had  enlisted  and  was  a  mem- 
ber of  Company  A,  Third  Illinois  Cavalry. 

Thomas  J.  Hailey  learned  the  trade  of  a  carpen- 
ter and  followed  that  occupation  in  early  life. 
He  was  bora  in  Virginia,  and  removed  to  Tennes- 
see when  a  boy,  with  the  family  of  the  man  to 
whom  he  was  apprenticed.  In  1830,  he  came  to 
Illinois,  and  settled  in  Sangamon  County.  He  as- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


sisted  in  putting  on  the  first  shingled  roof  in 
Springfield,  and  served  in  the  first  Black  Hawk 
campaign,  in  1832.  In  1871,  he  came  to  this 
county  and  made  his  home  in  Palmer  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  1887,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-two  years,  lacking  one  month.  His  first 
marriage  -was  with  a  lady  by  the  name  of  Narcissa 
Moore,  by  whom  he  had  two  children,  only  one  of  j 
whom  is  now  living,  Emeline  E.  Thomas,  who  is  j 
now  a  widow.  Mr.  Hailey  afterward  married  Miss 
Melvenia  Higgins,  whose  death  occurred  in  1885, 
at  the  age  of  sixty-eight  years.  Our  subject's  pa- 
ternal grandfather,  Edmund  Hailey,  was  a  native 
of  the  Old  Dominion  and  participated  in  the  War 
of  1812.  He  was  twice  married,  and  lived  to  be 
about  seventy-six  years  of  age,  dying  in  Virginia. 
William  Higgins,  the  maternal  grandfather,  was 
also  born  in  Virginia,  and  served  in  Anthony 
Wayne's  campaign.  He  was  twice  married,  and 
was  the  father  of  eighteen  children.  He  emigrated 
to  Illinois  in  1831,  and  died  when  sevent3r-five 
years  of  age,  in  Sangamon  County. 

Benjamin  H.  Hailej1,  whose  name  heads  this 
sketch,  lived  until  his  twentieth  year  on  a  farm  in 
Sangamon  County,  six  miles  from  Springfield.  He 
enlisted  in  Company  A,  Third  Illinois  Cavalry, 
and  served  three  years  and  fourteen  days.  He 
participated  in  the  battles  of  Pea  Ridge,  Chickasaw 
Bayou,  Arkansas  Post,  Champion  Hills,  Big  Black 
Ridge,  the  sieges  of  Vicksburg  and  Jackson,  and 
participated  in  over  forty  skirmishes.  For  thirteen 
successive  days  he  was  engaged  in  the  skirmishes 
of  Green's  cavalry.  He  was  very  fortunate  in 
never  meeting  with  injury  and  was  never  in  a  hos- 
pital. Indeed,  he  has  always  been  extremely 
healthy  and  robust,  and  perhaps  to  this  fact  is  due 
much  of  his  success  in  life. 

Returning  to  Sangamon  County  after  the  war, 
our  subject  engaged  in  farming  for  one  year,  and, 
feeling  the  need  of  a  better  education  to  qualify 
him  for  his  future  life  work,  he  attended  the  Illi- 
nois State  University  at  Springfield  for  three 
terms  and  also  took  a  commercial  course  in  the 
Bryant  &  Stratton  Business  College  of  that  city. 
In  partnership  with  George  E.  Stake,  he  next 
opened  a  general  store  at  Cotton  Hill,  and  was 
soon  afterward  appointed  Postmaster,  acting  as 


such  for  a  year  and  a-half.  In  1869,  he  came  with 
his  partner  to  Palmer,  where  they  did  business  to- 
gether for  about  two  years,  at  the  end  of  which 
time  our  subject  bought  the  interest  of  Mr.  Stake 
and  has  since  continued  in  business  alone,  with  the 
exception  of  a  year  and  a-half  during  the  panic  of 
1873.  He  was  soon  on  his  feet  again  financially, 
and  has  an  extensive  trade. 

Mr.  Hailey  was  united  in  marriage  on  the  29th 
of  June,  1871,  with  Miss  Mary  E.  Wood,  whose 
birth  occurred  in  Ohio.  Mrs.  Hailey  is  a  daughter 
of  George  and  Sarah  (Hodge)  Wood,  of  Blue 
Mound,  111.  Mr.  Wood  is  a  native  of  Virginia, 
while  his  wife  claims  Ohio  as  her  birthplace.  Two 
children  born  to  our  subject  and  his  wife  died  in 
infancy,  Frances  E.  and  Eleanora  E.  They  have 
three  daughters  living,  namely:  Lilian  C.,  Stella 
M.  and  Cora  E. 

Jn  his  social  relations,  Mr.  Hailey  holds  mem- 
bership with  William  A.  Higgins  Post  No.  400, 
G.  A.  R.,  Department  of  Illinois,  and  has  served 
as  Commander  of  the  post  for  seven  years.  He  is 
a  Republican  in  politics  and  has  filled  several  lo- 
cal positions  of  trust  and  honor.  He  was  Town 
Clerk  for  two  years,  and  was  President  of  the  Vil- 
lage Board  at  one  time.  In  1887,  he  was  made 
a  candidate  for  the  position  of  Sheriff,  and  only 
missed  the  nomination  by  one  vote.  For  several 
years  he  has  been  Notary  Public.  In  the  various 
capacities  of  his  public  life  his  work  has  been  con- 
ducted with  fidelity  and  zeal.  In  addition  to  his 
business  and  store  in  Palmer  he  owns  a  pleasant 
modern  residence. 


EORGE  ROSS,  a  native  of  Scotland,  was 
born  in  Sterlingborough  on  the  27th  of 
[ay,  1865.  Having  learned  the  tailoring 
business  thoroughly  in  all  its  branches,  and  hav- 
ing heard  of  the  fine  facilities  for  enterprising  men 
to  acquire  wealth,  or  at  least  a  competency,  in  the 
New  World,  he  embarked  for  America  in  the  fal 
of  1887,  being  then  only  twenty-two  years  of  age 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


327 


yet  his  proficiency  will  be  readily  acknowledged, 
when  it  is  known  that  he  learned  his  trade  in  Lang- 
holm,  Dumfriesshire,  Scotland.  He  first  located  at 
the  capital  of  Illinois,  but  in  March,  1891, came  to 
Christian  County. 

Having  previously  formed  the  acquaintance  of 
his  life  partner  in  Macon  County,  on  Christmas 
Eve  of  1889,  in  Decatur,  Mr.  Ross  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Ada  F.  Boaz,  daughter  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  E.  A.  Boaz.  The  father  was  long  known 
as  Lieut.  Boaz,  having  been  promoted  from  the 
ranks  for  his  valiant  service  in  the  Civil  War. 
He  displayed  more  than  ordinary  merit,  and  hence 
received  from  the  Governor  of  Missouri  the  posi- 
tion of  Officer  of  the  Guard  in  the  Jefferson  City 
Peniteutiar}'.  From  the  Governor  of  Illinois,  he 
received  a  like  appointment  for  the  Joliet  Peni- 
tentiary, which  position  he  held  when  he  died, 
having  acted  in  the  same  capacity  for  a  period  of 
eighteen  years  in  the  two  States.  He  was  buried 
at  Decatur,  111.,  in  1889,  with  military  honors. 
His  wife  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Nancy  E. 
Murphy,  and  she,  with  Ada,  the  only  child,  born 
January  1,  1868,  are  the  only  survivors  of  the 
family.  They  mourn  the  loss  of  a  kind  and  de- 
voted husband  and  loving  father,  and  the  com- 
munity remembers  him  with  gratefulness  as  a 
brave  soldier  and  valiant  officer,  both  in  war  and 
peace. 

Our  subject's  parents  were  John  and  Catherine 
(Cuthbert)  Ross,  both  natives  of  Scotland.  He  is 
the  fourth  in  order  of  birth  in  a  family  of  ten 
children.  John  was  born  in  1861;  William,  in 
1863;  James,  in  1864;  Maggie,  in  1867;  Annie,  in 
1868;  David,  in  1870;  Jessie  Jane,  in  1873;  Nellie, 
in  1875;  and  Robert  in  1879.  They  all  reside  in 
the  Fatherland  with  the  exception  of  the  eldest  son, 
eldest  daughter  and  our  subject. 

On  embarking  for  the  United  States,  George 
Ross  took  passage  in  the  vessel  '"Lake  Nepigon," 
a  Canadian  liner.  After  they  had  been  on  the 
ocean  for  about  fourteen  days,  a  dense  fog  settled 
down  on  the  vessel,  and  they  were  unable  to  sight 
anything  for  six  days.  When  the  fog  lifted  they 
found  that  they  were  near  the  coast  of  Newfound- 
land. Mr.  Ross  is  one  of  those  genial  gentlemen 
whom  America  may  be  proud  to  receive,  and  he  has 


chosen  for  his  companion  a  lady  of  rare  merit  and 
goodness.  The  children  that  have  come  to  share 
their  home  are  Roxie,  born  October  1,  1890;  Ed- 
ward, February  10,  1892;  and  Robert,  May  6, 
1893.  This  is  one  of  the  well-respected  families 
of  Taylorville,  and  Mr.  Ross  may  well  be  proud 
of  the  enviable  position  he  has  alreadj'  achieved 
among  his  fellow-citizens.  He  ranks  first  as  a 
practical  tailor,  and  the  variety  and  extent  of  the 
patterns  which  he  is  enabled  to  give  the  customer 
are  gaining  for  him  a  liberal  patronage,  and  it  is  a 
pleasure  to  number  him  with  the  enterprising 
business  men  of  this  community  who  are  entitled 
to  representation  in  this  record. 


;ILLIAM  AUGUSTUS  GOODRICH.  The 
public  offices  of  Taylorville  and  Christian 
County  have  found  no  more  efficient  in- 
cumbent than  the  gentleman  whose  name  heads 
this  record.  He  has  long  been  prominently  iden- 
tified with  public  interests,  and  his  name  is  inse[  - 
arably  connected  with  the  history  of  this  com- 
munity. Genial  and  pleasant  in  manner,  he  is 
quite  popular,  and  we  feel  assured  that  this  sketch 
will  be  received  with  pleasure  by  his  many  friends. 
The  Goodrich  family  from  which  our  subject 
sprang  were  long  prominent  in  Great  Britain.  Fre- 
quent mention  is  made  of  land-holders  of  the 
name  at  the  time  of  the  Norman  conquest,  in  1066. 
In  the  Tower  of  London  is  a  cannon,  the  inscrip- 
tion upon  which  tells  us  that  it  was  presented  to 
King  Charles  I.  by  Sir  Maurice  Goodrich;  while 
history  tells  us  that  Thomas  Goodrich  became  Bish- 
op of  Ely  and  Lord  High  Chancellor  of  England, 
under  Henry  VIII.  Goodrich  Castle  stands  on  the 
Wye  River,  in  Herefordshire,  Wales,  and  was  the 
seat  of  the  late  Sir  Samuel  C.  Rush  Meyrich,  LL.  D., 
the  famous  antiquarian.  This  castle  is  now  a  ruin, 
but  it  is  a  grand  and  gloomy  one.  An  authentic 
account  of  the  family  says  that  a  Goodrich  mar- 
ried a  sister  of  the  Duke  of  Marlborough,and  had 
two  sons:  John,  named  for  the  Duke,  and  William. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


The  father  dying,  his  brother  brought  the  two 
boys  to  New  England.  John  afterward  started 
back  to  the  Old  Country  in  accordance  with  a  re- 
quest .of  the  Duke,  who  desired  to  make  him  his 
heir,  but  died  en  route.  In  1640  the  uncle  pur- 
chased a  farm  for  William  in  Weathersfield,  Conn. 
The  family  had  come  directly  from  Suffolk  and 
Bury  St.  Edmunds,  England. 

From  William  Goodrich  just  mentioned  our 
subject  is  descended.  He  was  born  near  Bury 
St.  Edmunds,  and  his  marriage  in  1648  to  Sarah 
Marvin  is  the  first  mention  of  him  in  the  records 
of  Connecticut.  He  died  in  1676.  His  son  Eph- 
raim,  who  was  his  eighth  child,  continues  the  suc- 
cession. He  died  in  1739,  his  home  having  been  in 
Rocky  Hill,  Conn.  He  married  Sarah  Treat,  and 
after  her  death  wedded  Jerusha  Treat.  The  sev- 
enth child  of  that  family,  Gideon  Goodrich,  was 
born  in  1705,  and  died  in  1769.  He  was  a  sea- 
captain,  and  lived  in  Weathersfield  and  Upper 
Middletown,  Conn.  His  sixth  child  was  Lieut. 
Caleb  Goodrich,  who  was  born  in  1731,  and  died 
in  1777.  He  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  was 
present  at  Burgoyne's  surrender,  and  died  just 
three  weeks  after  returning  home.  Orin  Good- 
rich, the  fifth  child  of  his  family,  and  the  fifth  in 
succession,  was  born  January  15,  1771,  and  died 
July  17,  1855.  For  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury he  served  as  a  magistrate,  and  served  in  each 
branch  of  the  State  Legislature.  In  1793,  he  mar- 
ried Lydia  Sackett,  and  after  her  death  wedded 
Mary  Bagg.  He  was  a  prominent  and  influential 
man,  and  had  the  respect  of  all  who  knew  him. 

We  now  take  up  the  personal  history  of  our 
subject,  who  was  born  in  Pittsfield,  Berkshire 
County,  Mass.,  November  24,  1818,  and  remained 
in  his  native  State  until  nineteen  years  of  age, 
when,  in  November,  1837,  he  emigrated  to  Spring- 
field, 111.,  where  his  sister  Frances  was  living.  For 
two  years  he  engaged  in  railroading.  The  day 
after  the  Presidential  election  of  1840,  at  which  he 
cast  his  first  vote  for  Martin  Van  Buren,  he  came 
to  Christian  County.  His  father  had  purchased 
three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land  in  Mt. 
Auburn,  for  which  he  paid  $10  per  acre,  and  Will- 
iam and  his  brother  Montgomery  settled  upon 
that  tract.  The}'  had  a  span  of  horses  and  possi- 


bly about  $200  in  money.  For  ten  years  our  sub- 
ject resided  upon  that  farm,  devoting  his  energies 
to  its  cultivation,  and  was  quite  successful  in  his 
undertakings.  After  two  years  the  land  was  di- 
vided between  himself  and  his  brother. 

On  the  24th  of  December,  1841,  Mr.  Goodi-ich 
married  Miss  Nancy  Auger,  sister  of  A.  L.  Auger, 
now  of  Mt.  Auburn.  Unto  them  were  born  the 
following  children:  Charles  F.,  who  carries  on 
farming  two  and  a-half  miles  west  of  Taylorville; 
Henry  A.,  a  farmerof  the  same  neighborhood;  and 
Julia  B.,  who  became  the  wife  of  I.  N.  Richard- 
son, and  died  three  years  later.  The  mother  of 
this  family  was  called  to  her  final  rest  November 
29,  1854,  and  June  17,  1855,  Mr.  Goodrich  mar- 
ried Miss  Martha  A.  Ryan,  of  Springfield,  Ohio,  ;i 
daughter  of  James  H.  Ryan.  Their  only  child, 
William  R.,  died  in  infancy. 

In  August,  1843,  while  living  on  his  farm,  Mr. 
Goodrich  was  elected  Surveyor  of  Christian  Coun- 
ty, and  filled  that  office  until  1850,  in  which  year 
he  was  elected  County  Sheriff  011  the  Democratic 
ticket.  In  order  to  fill  the  position,  he  removed 
to  Taylorville,  and  six  years  later  he  sold  his  farm. 
His  first  term  comprised  two  years,  after  which  he 
served  as  Deputy  for  two  years  under  William  C. 
Brentz.  In  1854,  he  was  again  elected  Sheriff,  but 
before  his  two  years'  term  had  expired  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  take  charge  of  the  County  Clerk's 
office,  filling  theunexpired  term  of  his  predecessor, 
John  Hinton,  who  had  died  in  office.  He  was 
then  four  times  elected  to  the  position,  serving  in 
all  for  seventeen  years.  At  length  he  retired,  in 
1873. 

Mr.  Goodrich  has  also  been  interested  in  the 
real-estate  business,  buying,  selling  and  trading 
lands.  For  two  years  he  was  associated  in  this  en- 
terprise with  his  son-in-law,  I.  N.  Richardson.  He 
has  also  built  a  number  of  residences,  and  laid  out 
a  forty-acre  addition  to  Taylorville  in  1853.  In 
1868  he  was  elected  as  Representative  on  the  Re- 
publican ticket.  In  his  earlier  life  he  had  been  a 
Democrat,  but  in  that  year  he  supported  Gen. 
Grant,  and  joined  the  ranks  of  the  Republican 
party,  with  which  he  has  since  been  identified. 
Mr.  Goodrich  takes  some  interest  in  civic  socie- 
ties. He  is  a  Royal  Arch  Mason,  and  became  con- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


329 


nected  with  that  fraternity  in  Mound  Lodge  No. 
122,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Taylorville,  in  1852.  He 
has  passed  the  chairs,  served  as  Worthy  Master 
one  year,  and  was  also  a  member  of  the  Grand 
Lodge.  In  the  same  year  he  also  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Baptist  Church.  His  public  and  private 
life  are  alike  above  reproach,  and  the  faithfulness 
with  which  he  has  discharged  his  official  duties  is 
equalled  only  by  the  fidelity  with  which  he  has 
performed  private  trusts.  From  the  early  days  of 
its  history  he  has  been  identified  with  Christian 
County,  and  its  best  interests  have  ever  found  in 
him  a  friend.  Good  words  and  works  make  up 
his  well-spent  life. 


PHINEAS  LEECH  DODGE,  a  grain  dealer, 
and  proprietor  of  the  elevator  in  Rosemohd, 
was  born  in  the  village  of  Glenn,  Mont- 
gomery County,  N.  Y.,  June  10,  1843,  and 
is  the  second  in  order  of  birth  in  a  family  of  ten 
children,  whose  parents  were  Asa  P.  and  Mary  J. 
(Faulkner)  Dodge.  The  paternal  great-grandfa- 
ther, Asa  Dodge,  was  of  Scotch-Irish  descent,  and 
died  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-seven  years. 
The  grandfather,  Phineas  Dodge,  and  the  father 
of  our  subject  were  both  born  in  Montgomery 
County,  N.  Y.  The  latter  was  a  cooper  by  trade, 
and  also  followed  the  occupation  of  farming.  He 
married  Miss  Faulkner,  a  native  of  Glenn,  N.  Y., 
and  a  daughter  of  Daniel  Faulkner,  who  was  born 
in  Connecticut,  and  was  of  English  lineage.  The 
parents  of  our  subject  celebrated  their  marriage  in 
their  native  county,  and  there  began  their  domestic 
life,and  in  1891  they  celebrated,  their  golden  wed- 
ding. The  mother  survived  her  husband  a  few 
months  and  died  August  30,  1893.  The  father 
died  May  14,  1893,  at  the  age  of  seventy-four 
years.  Of  their  seven  sons  and  three  daughters, 
six  grew  to  manhood  and  womanhood,  and  are 
still  living. 

Under  the  parental  roof  Phineas  L.  Dodge  was 
reared  to  manhood,  remaining  at  home  until  his 


removal  to  the  West,  in'1865.  His  education  was 
acquired  in  the  common  schools,  which  he  at- 
tended through  the  winter  season,  while  in  the 
summer  months  he  worked  on  a  farm.  In  the  year 
above  mentioned  he  became  a  resident  of  Hills- 
borough,  111.,  and  in  that  neighborhood  worked 
by  the  month  as  a  farm  hand  for  a  short  time.  On 
the  4th  of  June  of  the  same  year  he  came  to  Chris- 
tian County,  where  he  followed  farm  work  until 
1866,  when  he  became  clerk  for  the  firm  of  Cope- 
land  &  Bros.,  dealers  in  general  merchandise,  and 
grain  buyers,  with  whom  he  remained  about  one 
year.  He  then  became  messenger  for  the  Ameri- 
can Express  Company,  running  from  St.  Louis  to 
Indianapolis,  Ind.,  on  what  was  then  the  Indian- 
apolis &  St.  Louis  Railroad,  but  is  now  the  Big 
Four.  After  nineteen  months  he  returned  to 
Rosemond,  and  began  clerking  for  B.  M.  Schermer- 
horn,  in  which  capacity  he  served  for  a  year  and 
a-half.  In  1869  he  became  station  agent  at  Rose- 
mond, and  for  more  than  ten  years  served  in  that 
capacity,  filling  the  position  until  December  16, 
1880,  when  he  became  a  dealer  in  hay,  buying  and 
shipping  that  commodity.  He  also  added  dealing 
in  grain,  and  now  uses  four  buildings  in  his  busi- 
ness, two  hay  barns,  a  building  for  grain  and  the 
elevator. 

Mr.  Dodge  was  married  in  1869,  to  Marie  A. 
Chase,  who  was  born  in  Schuyler  County,  111.,  and 
is  a  daughter  of  William  A.  and  Mary  M.  (Cook) 
Chase,  the  former  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and 
the  latter  of  Baltimore,  Md.  Mrs.  Dodge  is  the 
eldest  of  seven  daughters.  With  her  parents  she 
catne  to  Christian  County  in  1857.  Her  mother 
is  still  living  with  her  children.  Unto  our  subject 
and  his  wife  have  been  born  three  daughters: 
Mary  Agnes,  who  became  the  wife  of  H.  W.  Wad- 
dington,  a  farmer  of  Rosemond  Township,  Febru- 
ary 24,  1892;  Mabel  Reed,  who  on  the  6th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1893,  married  A.  B.  Smith,  and  resides  in 
Chicago;  and  Grace  E.,  who  is  at  home. 

In  his  political  affiliations,  Mr.  Dodge  is  a  Re- 
publican, and  for  six  successive  years  served  as 
Tax  Collector.  He  is  School  Treasurer  of  the 
township,  and  has  filled  the  position  for  twenty- 
one  years,  his  faithfulness  and  fidelity  insuring 
his  continuance  in  office.  He  is  a  member  and 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Treasurer  of  the  First  Congregational  Church  of 
Rosemond,  and  belongs  to  the  Masonic  lodge  and 
to  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America.  Besides  his 
business,  he  owns  a  valuable  farm  of  seventy-five 
acres,  adjoining  the  corporate  limits  of  Rosemond. 
He  is  a  wide-awake  and  enterprising  business  man, 
and  the  community  in  which  he  lives  recognizes 
in  him  a  valued  citizen. 


jjUfc.ON.  JOHN  L.  DRENNAN,  the  founder  of 
if)))  the  Drennan  family  in  Christian  County, 
/.^^  is  a  native  of  Kentucky,  his  birth  having 
(jjy)  occurred  in  Caldwell  County,  November 
14,  1836.  His  grandfather,  John  Drennan,  was  a 
resident  of  South  Carolina  at  the  time  of  the 
Revolutionary  War,  and  served  in  the  Colonial 
army.  About  the  year  1802,  he  removed  from 
that  State  to  Kentucky,  settling  in  Caldwell,  then 
Livingston  County,  and  was  one  of  the  pioneers 
of  that  part  of  the  State.  The  location  in  which 
he  took  up  his  residence  was  a  wilderness  and  still 
inhabited  by  the  Indians.  The  father  of  our  sub- 
ject, Eli  Drennan,  was  born  in  South  Carolina  in 
the  year  1800.  From  1802  he  resided  in  Caldwell 
County,  Ky.,  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in 
1872.  He  married  Margaret  McDowell,  of  the 
same  county,  about  1824.  She  was  descended 
from  an  Irish  family  that  had  also  settled  in  South 
Carolina  and  removed  from  there  to  Kentucky  at 
an  early  day. 

John  L.  Drennan,  whose  name  heads  this  record, 
was  the  eldest  of  nine  children.  The  family  was 
poor,  work  plentiful  and  schools  scarce.  The  re- 
sult was  he  only  attended  school  for  about  three 
months,  and  for  the  education  he  received  he  is 
indebted  entirely  to  his  own  efforts.  On  the  13th 
of  March,  1850,  he  married  Henrietta  Wimburley, 
only  daughter  of  Moore  and  Emily  Wimburley. 
Her  father  was  of  French  and  German  descent, 
and  his  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Isaac  Rucker,  who 
was  a  soldier  iu  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  be- 


longed to  the  distinguished  Rucker  family  so 
numerous  in  Kentucky.  Moore  Wimburley  was 
captain  of  a  boat  on  the  Mississippi  in  an  early 
day.  He  lost  his  life  from  a  relapse  after  measles, 
brought  about  from  exposure  on  the  river.  His 
widow  afterwards  married  Henry  Sanders.  She 
was  the  mother  of  five  children  and  is  still  living, 
her  home  being  now  in  Taylorville.  She  is  a  wo- 
man of  powerful  intellect  and  great  force  of  char- 
acter, which  qualities  she  transmitted  to  her  daugh- 
ter Henrietta. 

John  L.  Drennan,  with  his  wife  and  four  chil- 
dren, Alfred  M.,  Frank  P.,  John  G.  and  Adelia  J., 
removed  from  Kentucky  to  Mt.  Auburn  Township 
in  the  fall  of  1856,  and  thence  to  the  present 
homestead  of  the  family  in  Mosquito  Township  in 
1862.  The  other  children  are  Laura  A.  E.,  M. 
Emily,  Henry  E.,  George  R.,  Henrietta  A.,  Cora  A., 
James  L.,  Thomas  M.,  Oscar  W.  and  Charlotte  O. 
These  were  born  in  Christian  County.  Alfred  M. 
now  resides  in  Taylorville.  Frank  P.  is  an  able 
and  painstaking  lawyer  of  Taylorville,  and  is  re- 
garded as  one  of  the  safest  counselors,  as  well  as 
one  of  the  most  careful  business  men,  in  the  coun- 
ty. He  has  been  quite  successful.  In  1881.  he 
married  May,  youngest  daughter  of  Judge  W.  S- 
Moore,  and  has  two  charming  daughters.  He 
served  one  term  as  Master  in  Chancery,  and  has 
always  taken  a  prominent  part  in  the  councils  of 
the  Democratic  party.  John  G.,  now  residing  in 
Springfield,  111.,  is  the  junior  member  of  the  well- 
known  law  firm  of  Palmer,  Shutt  &  Drennan,  the 
first-named  being  now  United  States  Senator,  while 
Mr.  Shutt  is  United  States  District  Attorney  for  the 
Southern  District  of  Illinois.  He  married  Mag- 
gie, daughter  of  Dr.  L.  B.  Slater,  May  26, 1881,  and 
has  two  promising  boys.  Adelia  J.  is  the  wife  of 
John  F.  Cole,  and  with  their  seven  children  they 
reside  in  Edinburgh,  this  county.  Laura  is  the 
wife  of  James  George,  of  Caldwell  County,  Ky., 
and  they  have  three  children.  Emily  is  the  wife 
of  Clayton  Clements,  of  Decatur,  111.,  by  whom  she 
has  four  children.  Henry  E.,  now  of  Denver,  Colo., 
has  been  twice  married  and  has  one  daughter. 
George  R.,  who  married  Miss  Hignight  and  has 
three  children,  is  a  successful  farmer  and  resides 
on  the  old  homestead  in  Mosquito  Township. 


of  the 

•itv   of 


MRS.  Jos.  A  DAMS. 


•    I  lie  Libfirj 
«l  the 
o<  IW 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL    RECORD. 


335 


Henrietta  A.  is  the  wife  of  Lewis  Wilson,  by  whom 
she  has  four  sons,  and  they  reside  on  their  farm 
near  Greeley,  Kan.  Cora  A.  married  Miles  Scott, 
and  lives  in  Kansas.  They  have  four  bright  lit- 
tle boys  to  gladden  their  home.  James  L.  mar- 
ried May,  daughter  of  Richard  Jones,  of  Mt.  Au- 
burn. He  is  a  law  student  of  much  promise,  and 
has  displayed  much  capacity  and  tact  as  a  trial 
lawyer,  although  he  has  not  yet  been  admitted  to 
the  Bar.  Thomas  M.  is  a  young  man  of  promise. 
He  is  also  studying  law  and  gives  evidence  of  suc- 
cess. Oscar  W.,  an  amiable  young  man  of  twenty, 
died  a  few  months  ago  in  Texas,  where  he  had 
gone  in  the  hope  of  regaining  his  health.  Al- 
though he  was  too  young  for  a  business  career,  he 
displayed  all  the  family  qualities  of  a  useful  citi- 
zen. Charlotte  A.,  now  a  young  lady,  resides  with 
her  mother  in  Taylorville. 

The  father  of  this  family,  John  L.  Drennan, 
died  at  his  home  in  Mosquito  Township,  Septem- 
ber 5,1882,  of  typhoid  fever.  He  always  com- 
manded the  confidence  and  respect  of  the  people, 
and  creditably  filled  several  positions  of  public 
trust.  He  was  several  times  Assessor  of  Mosquito 
Township,  and  also  represented  his  township  as 
Supervisor  for  nine  years.  Political!}7,  he  was  al- 
ways a  Democrat  and  cast  his  first  vote  for  Gen. 
Cass.  A  man  of  good  habits  and  much  force  of 
character,  he  was  devoted  to  his  family  and  used 
every  effort  to  promote  habits  of  industry  and 
integrity  in  his  children.  The  family  is  one  of 
prominence  throughout  the  county,  and  well  de- 
serves representation  in  this  volume. 


jlL_  ON-  JOSEPH  ADAMS  is  one  of  the  worthy 
ifjV  citizens  of  Christian   County  whose   home 
uhgr    is  situated  on  section  11,  Prairieton  Town- 
(^)     ship.     He  served  his  district  in  the  Legis- 
lature   in    the  winter    of   1891,  and   is  one  of  the 
memorable  one  hundred  and  one  who  stood  firmly 
by  and  voted  for  Hon.  John  M.   Palmer  until   he 
was  triumphantly  elected  on  the  one  hundred  and 
16 


fifty-fourth  ballot.  He  has  also  occupied  nearly 
all  of  the  local  positions  within  the  gift  of  the 
people,  and  his  discharge  of  the  duties  pertaining 
to  whatever  office  he  has  filled  has  been  marked 
by  fidelity  and  a  realization  of  the  trust  be- 
stowed in  him.  He  is  one  of  the  honored  pioneers 
of  this  county,  with  whose  welfare  he  has  been 
connected  since  1836. 

Mr.  Adams  was  born  in  Montgomery  County, 
Ky.,  January  17,  1833,  and  is  a  son  of  Ellington 
and  Elizabeth  (Gordon)  Adams.  The  father  was 
also  born  in  Montgomery  County,  Ky.,  coming 
from  one  of  the  early  pioneer  families  of  that  State. 
His  father  was  of  English  descent  and  a  native  of 
the  Old  Dominion.  Our  subject's  mother  was  a 
daughter  of  Randel  Gordon,  who  was  also  from 
Virginia,  and  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Ken- 
tucky. Ellington  Adams  removed  to  Illinois  in 
1833  and  first  made  a  settlement  in  Sangamon 
County.  After  a  residence  there  of  three  years  lie 
finally  located  in  what  is  now  Christian  County, 
the  date.being  1836.  He  entered  land  in  Prairie- 
ton  Township  and  proceeded  with  industry  to  de- 
velop a  farm  in  the  wilderness.  He  reared  his 
family  and  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life  on  this 
farm,  dying  in  1875,  aged  seventy-two  years.  The 
wife  and  mother  survived  him  for  several  years, 
passing  away  in  1885. 

Joseph  Adams  is  one  of  a  family  of  ten  chil- 
dren, namely:  Rachel,  who  died  in  her  thirty- 
fifth  year;  Isom,  a  well-known  farmer  of  this 
township,  whose  sketch  may  be  found  elsewhere  in 
this  work;  Joseph,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
Richardson,  who  is  engaged  in  farming  in  the 
same  township;  G.  W.,  who  was  formerly  a  promi- 
inent  farmer  of  the  county,  but  met  his  death  by 
accident  in  July,  1893;  James  Martin,  deceased; 
Robert,  whose  death  occurred  at  the  age  of  four- 
teen; Martha,  wife  of  Benjamin  Bramlett,  of  this 
county;  and  Lucy,  who  died  at  the  age  of  sixteen 
years. 

Our  subject's  boyhood  was  passed  in  Christian 
Count}',  and  in  those  early  days,  as  educational 
advantages  were  of  the  most  limited  description, 
he  was  not  able  to  obtain  much  assistance,  and 
therefore  has  had  to  depend  upon  his  own  study 
and  resources.  The  nearest  school  was  situated 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


tlyee  miles  from  his  home,  but  the  subscription 
school  which  he  attended,  and  which  was  kept 
only  three  months  during  the  year,  was  six  miles 
distant  from  his  home,  and  he  made  the  distance 
on  foot. 

On  reaching  his  majority,  Mr.  Adams  bought  a 
tract  of  three  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  railroad 
land  and  one  hundred  acres  of  other  land  ad- 
joining. On  this  farm  he  located  in  1856,  at 
which  time  only  about  thirty  acres  had  been 
cleared  for  cultivation, and  a  small  frame  building 
was  the  only  improvement.  This  was  the  home 
of  himself  and  family  for  a  few  years,  during 
which  time  he  rapidly  developed  the  farm,  and  as 
the  years  rolled  by  the  income  of  his  industry  and 
energy  was  invested  in  more  land,  until  he  now 
owns  sixteen  hundred  acres.  Much  of  this  is  rich 
bottom  land,  and  on  these  various  farms  are  six 
large  and  substantial  residences,  good  barns  and 
other  buildings.  The  success  of  Mr.  Adams  shows 
what  can  be  done  on  these  fertile  Western  prairies 
by  a  man  who  is  able  and  willing  to  do  his  utmost 
in  their  development. 

In  Decatur,  Macon  County,  Mr.  Adams  and  Miss 
Nancy  Widick  were  married,  June  9,  1856.  The 
lady  was  born  in  Macon  County  and  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  Samuel  Widick,  who  was  one  of  the  original 
settlers  of  Kentucky  and  participated  in  the  War 
of  1812.  He  also  fought  valiantly  for  the  Old 
Flag  during  the  late  Civil  War,  and  at  the  end  of 
three  years  died  in  the  service.  Our  subject  and 
his  wife  have  reared  a  family  of  nine  children. 
Millie  became  the  wife  of  John  Myers,  now  de- 
ceased; George  A.  is  married  and  is  engaged  in 
business  in  Moweaqua,  Shelby  County;  Wheeler,  a 
farmer,  lives  in  Shelby  County;  Florence  is  the 
wife  of  Henry  Harpool,  also  a  farmer, of  Christian 
County;  Iva  is  the  wife  of  Leonard  Cazalet,  a 
fanner  of  Assumption  Township;  Eva  is  the  wife 
of  Frank  Johnson,  of  Shelby  County;  Bettie  and 
Annie  are  at  home.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Adams  have 
twelve  grandchildren,  one  of  whom,  Johnnie  Myers, 
resides  with  them. 

Mr.  Adams  is  well  known  as  a  supporter  of  the 
Democratic  party  and  has  supported  its  candidates 
since  1856,  when  he  voted  for  Hon.  James  Bu- 
chanan. He  has  also  taken  an  active  part  in  lo- 


cal politics,  and  for  a  great  many  years  has  served 
his  friends  and  neighbors  in  various  positions, 
among  which  we  mention  that  for  twenty  years 
he  was  Supervisor  of  Prairieton  Township,  and 
was  for  thirty-four  years  one  of  its  School  Trus- 
tees. It  is  very  fitting  that  to  one  who  is  faithful 
over  a  few  things  greater  honors  should  be  added, 
and  it  was  with  this  idea  in  view  that  his  many 
friends  chose  him  as  their  Representative  in  the 
Legislature.  Mrs.  Adams  is  a  member  of  the 
Christian  Church,  while  our  subject,  though  not 
a  member  of  any  church  organization,  is  very 
liberal  in  the  support  of  this  and  other  denomina- 
tions, as  well  as  of  all  general  benevolent  enter- 
prises. 


JOHN  L.  SANDERS,  one  of  the  honored  old 
pioneers  and  representative  farmers  of  Ston- 
ington  Township,  resides  on  section  26.  For 
over  half  a  century  he  has  been  identified 
with  the  history  of  Christian  County,  and  has  seen 
its  development  from  a  wilderness  to   the   garden 
spot  of   Illinois.     He  well    remembers   when    the 
family  were  obliged  to  go  to  Springfield  for  their 
mail  and  to  do  their  trading,  although  that  city 
was  thirty-two  miles  distant. 

The  birth  of  our  subject  occurred  February  11, 
1831,  in  Voluntown,  Conn.  He  is  the  third  in  a 
family  of  five  children  born  to  Nicholas  and  Sarah 
(Douglass)  Sanders.  Louisa,  the  eldest,  died  only 
six  weeks  after  the  family's  arrival  in  Illinois, 
when  she  was  ten  years  of  age.  Nicholas  D.  is 
now  one  of  the  active  farmers  and  stock-dealers  of 
this  count}1.  Lydia  married  Tyler  Chapman,  a  re- 
tired farmer  and  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Christian 
County.  Julia  became  the  wife  of  Alfred  Briggs, 
also  engaged  in  farming  in  this  locality.  The 
father  was  born  and  reared  in  Connecticut  on  a 
farm.  For  several  years  after  his  marriage  he  con- 
tinued a  resident  of  the  Nutmeg  State,  but  believ- 
ing that  he  could  better  his  fortune  in  the  West, 
he  came  in  1837  with  several  other  families  to  Illi- 
nois, and  founded  what  was  known  as  the  Ston- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


337 


ington  Colony.  He  was  one  of  the  most  respected 
citizens  of  the  township  and  for  a  number  of  years 
was  Justice  of  the  Peace.  Here  he  continued  to 
reside  until  called  from  his  labors  by  death  in  Sep- 
tember, 1878.  His  wife,  who  was  also  born  in  Con- 
necticut, is  still  living,  though  she  is  eighty-nine 
years  of  age. 

John  L.  Sanders  was  a  child  of  only  six  years 
when  his  parents  brought  him  to  the  West.  They 
made  the  journey  by  water  to  St.  Louis,  proceed- 
ing from  that  city  to  Christian  County  by  ox- 
teams.  They  found  the  country  sparsely  settled 
and  wild  animals  still  numerous.  Mr.  Sanders  re- 
sided with  his  parents  until  he  had  reached  his  ma- 
jority, and  received  but  limited  educational  oppor- 
tunities, as  the  schools  of  the  early  days, which  were 
poor,  were  only  kept  for  a  couple  of  months  in  a 
year  and  were  conducted  on  the  subscription  plan. 
When  he  was  thirty  years  of  age  he  purchased  a 
farm  of  eighty  acres,  which  he  has  improved  and 
lived  upon  ever  since. 

On  the  19th  of  February,  1860,  Mr.  Sanders  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Achsah  F.  Palmer,  who 
was  born  in  the  same  county  in  Connecticut  as  her 
husband,  and  came  to  this  county  with  her  parents 
when  about  twelve  years  old.  Nine  children  have 
been  born  of  this  union.  Mary  became  the  wife 
of  William  Bugg,  who  is  a  well-known  agricul- 
turist of  Christian  County;  Nicholas  is  carrying 
on  the  home  farm;  Laura  lives  at  home;  Ernest  is 
assisting  his  brother  in  managing  the  homestead; 
Katie  Pearl  is  the  wife  of  Edward  D.  Moore,  who 
is  a  progressive  farmer  of  the  county;  Oliver  is  still 
at  home;  and  three  children  died  in  infancy. 

The  homestead  belonging  to  Mr.  Sanders  com- 
prises at  the  present  time  four  hundred  acres  of 
valuable  farm  land.  The  property  is  located  four 
miles  southeast  of  Stonington  and  is  well  improved. 
Until  1892,  our  subject  affiliated  with  the  Repub- 
lican party,  but  at  that  time  joined  th'e  ranks  of 
the  Prohibition  party.  He  has  no  desire  to  fill  of- 
ficial positions  and  has  ever  declined  to  serve.  For 
about  thirty-six  years  he  has  been  a  consistent 
member  of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  is  active  in  all 
good  works.  He  is  well  posted  on  all  of  the  lead- 
ing topics  of  the  day,  and  is  largely  self-educated, 
as  he  is  also  a  self-made  man  in  financial  matters. 


He  has  a  large  circle  of  friends  and  probably  not 
an  enemy,  as  he  is  upright  and  a  man  of  integrity, 
who  makes  friends  wherever  he  goes. 


AMUEL  MILLIGAN,  deceased,  who  was 
prominently  identified  with  the  growth 
and  upbuilding  of  Taylorville,  was  born 
in  Champaign  County,  Ohio,  August  10, 
1827,  and  died  at  his  home  in  this  city  on  the  21st 
of  April,  1884,  respected  by  all  who  knew  him. 
His  parents  were  William  and  Eliza  (Pollock) 
Milligan.  The  former,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
died  November  7,  1850,  and  the  death  of  the  lat- 
ter occurred  in  1865. 

No  event  of  special  importance  occurred  during 
the  youth  of  our  subject,  which  was  quietly  passed 
in  his  parents'  home.  It  was  in  1856  that  Mr. 
Milligan  left  the  State  of  his  nativity  and  re- 
moved to  Taylorville,  111.,  where  he  made  his  home 
until  his  death.  He  was  a  butcher  by  trade,  and 
in  this  place  opened  a  meat-market,  which  he  car- 
ried on  continuously  for  many  years.  From  the 
beginning  his  business  constantly  increased,  and 
he  enjoyed  a  liberal  patronage,  which  was  well  de- 
served, for  his  dealings  were  ever  characterized  by 
the  strictest  honor  and  integrity. 

Our  subject  was  married  in  Taylorville,  in  1866, 
the  lady  of  his  choice  being  Mrs.  Rebecca  Mc- 
Arthur,  widow  of  Thomas  McArthur,  who  was  a 
member  of  Company  H,  Thirty-sixth  Ohio  Infan- 
try, during  the  late  war,  and  died  in  the  service 
in  1864.  The  following  year  his  widow  came  to 
Taylorville,  and  on  the  18th  of  November,  1866, 
occurred  her  marriage  with  Mr.  Milligan.  She 
bore  the  maiden  name  of  Rebecca  Snuffln,and  is  a 
native  of  Champaign  County,  Ohio,  her  girlhood 
being  passed  in  the  same  community  in  which  our 
subject  was  reared.  By  her  first  marriage  she  had 
five  children:  Duncan,  who  is  engaged  in  the 
dairy  business;  Levi,  who  is  a  jeweler  of  Taylor- 
ville; Walter,  who  is  connected  with  a  coal  mine 


338 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


of  this  city;  and  two  who  died  in  childhood.  Mr. 
Milligan's  family  numbered  the  following  children: 
Mary,  who  became  the  wife  of  William  Fousnacht, 
and  died  at  the  age  of  nineteen;  William,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  three  years;  David  F.,  who  car- 
ries on  the  business  formerly  conducted  by  his  fa- 
ther; Anon  C.,  Charles  II.  and  Walter,  who  died 
at  the  age  of  fifteen,  seven  and  two  years,  re- 
spectively; Amos,  who  died  at  the  age  of  eighteen 
months;  Rosa  May,  who  is  engaged  in  the  milli- 
nery business;  and  Nellie,  who  is  pursuing  a  course 
in  music. 

Mr.  Milligan  came  to  Taylorville  a  poor  man, 
but  by  his  industry,  perseverance  and  well-directed 
efforts  he  accumulated  a  handsome  competency, 
and  left  his  family  in  comfortable  circumstances. 
He  platted  five  acres  of  ground,  known  as  Milli- 
gan's Addition  to  Taylorville,  and  erected  thereon 
a  number  of  desirable  residences,  the  greater  part 
of  which  he  had  sold  before  his  death.  In  politics, 
he  was  a  supporter  of  the  Republican  partv,  but 
was  never  an  aspirant  for  the  honors  or  emolu- 
ments of  public  office.  His  death  resulted  from 
blood  poisoning,  and  occurred  three  weeks  after  sus- 
taining an  injury,  the  point  of  a  small  saw  pene- 
trating his  foot.  He  lived  a  quiet,  unassuming 
life,  yet  was  a  public-spirited  and  progressive  citi- 
zen, and  had  the  esteem  of  all  who  knew  him. 
Mrs.  Milligan  is  a  member  of  the  Cumberland 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  is  a  most  estimable  lady. 
Since  her  husband's  death  she  has  continued  to 
make  her  home  in  Taylorville. 


,EV.  WILLIAM  W.  WEEDON,  pastor  of 
the 'Christian  Church  of  Taylorville,  was 
born  in  Columbiana  Count}',  Ohio,  Decem- 
!  ber  23,  1846,  and  his  parents,  Samuel  and 
Letitia  (Farr)  Weedon,  were  natives  of  the  same 
State.  The  paternal  grandfather,  James  Weedon, 
however,  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  was  a 
farmer  by  occupation.  In  an  early  day  he  emi- 


grated  to  Illinois  and  located  in  Wayne  County, 
where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life. 

Samuel  Weedon  has  always  been  an  agricultur- 
ist. Although  in  early  life  he  learned  the  cooper's 
trade,  lie  followed  that  pursuit  for  only  a  short 
time.  In  Ohio  he  married  Miss  Farr,  daughter  of 
William  Farr,  a  native  of  Virginia,  who  in  an 
early  day  removed  to  Ohio,  living  for  many 
ye'ars  in  Columbiana  County,  where  his  last  days 
were  speut.  Mrs.  Woedon  died  in  1854.  She  was 
a  member  of  the  United  Brethren  Church.  In 
her  family  were  four  children,  two  sons  and  two 
daughters,  but  Teresa  C.,  the  eldest,  is  now  de- 
ceased. William  W.  is  the  next  in  order  of  birth; 
Rachel  A.  is  the  wife  of  Lindley  W.  Rossiter,  of 
St.  Louis;  Leven  H.  completes  the  family.  After 
the  death  of  his  first  wife,  Mr.  Weedon  was  mar- 
ried, in  1856,  to  Sarah  A.  Casebeer,  daughter  of 
Samuel  Casebeer.  She  too  was  a  member  of  the 
United  Brethren  Church,  and  her  death  occurred 
in  1876.  The  present  wife  of  Samuel  Weedon 
was  formerly  Mrs.  Joan  Hood.  They  were  mar- 
ried in  1879,  and  arc  now  living  near  Fairfield,  in 
Wayne  County,  111.  Mr.  Weedon  came  to  this 
State  in  1860,  and  has  since  lived  in  Wayne 
Count}7,  where  he  owns  a  farm  of  forty  acres.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  a  highly 
respected  citizen. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  a  youth  of  four- 
teen years  when  he  came  to  Illinois.  He  acquired 
his  early  education  in  the  public  schools  of  Ohio, 
afterward  attended  in  Wayne  County,  and  com- 
pleted his  studies  in  the  High  School  in  Fairfield. 
He  lived  at  home  until  the  war  broke  out,  when 
he  entered  the  service  as  a  member  of  Company  G, 
Eighth  Illinois  Infantry,  in  which  he  served  one 
year,  participating  in  the  battles  of  Spanish  Fort 
and  Ft.  Blakeley  and  the  engagements  of  the 
Mobile  campaign.  After  the  war  he  spent  one 
year  at  home,  and  then  went  back  to  Ohio,  where 
he  farmed  and  worked  at  carpentering. 

In  June,  1867,  Mr.  Weedon  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Miss  Julia  A.  Morlan,  a  daughter  of 
Salathiel  and  Minerva  (Burson)  Morlan,  of  Ohio. 
Three  children  were  born  unto  them,  a  son  and  two 
daughters,  but  all  are  now  deceased.  They  were 
Edwin  S.,  who  died  in  childhood;  Lettie  M.,  who 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


339 


became  the  wife  of  William  Darnell,  of  Kansas 
City,  Mo.,  where  she  died  in  her  twenty-third  year; 
and  Lillie,  who  died  in  her  eighteenth  year.  The 
mother  of  this  family  died  in  June,  1872,  in  the 
faitli  of  the  Christian  Church,  of  which  she  was 
a  consistent  member.  Two  years  after  the  death 
of  his  wife,  Mr.  Weedon  left  Ohio,  and  in  1874  | 
came  to  Illinois,  locating  in  Cisne  for  a  short  time. 
On  the  24th  of  December,  1874,  he  married  Miss 
Carrie  Van  Fossen,  of  Cisne,  daughter  of  Dr.  T. 
and  Christina  (Lamp)  Van  Fossen.  Their  union 
.has  been  blessed  with  four  children,  two  sons  and 
two  daughters:  Fred  O.,  Lulu  Mabel,  Frank  L. 
and  Sarah  Edna,  all  at  home. 

Feeling  a  desire  to  enter  the  ministry,  in  1876 
.Mr.  Weedon  began  studying  to  fit  himself  for 
what  he  now  makes  his  life  work,  and  in  1878 
passed  his  ordination,  and  in  1879  accepted  a 
pastorate  at  Brownstown,  Fayette  County,  111. 
Since  then  he  has  preached  at  Edinburgh,  South 
Fork,  Assumption,  Blue  Mound,  Barnett  and  Tay- 
lorville.  He  has  occupied  the  last-named  pastorate 
for  about  seven  years.  The  weak  congregation  of 
which  he  took  charge  is  now  a  strong  one,  and 
during  his  work  here  he  has  received  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  into  the  church,  besides  receiv- 
ing hundreds  of  others  while  working  in  the 
.evangelistic  field.  Through  the  instrumentality 
of  Mr.  Weedon,  a  fine  new  church  building  is  now 
being  erected,  costing  about  $15,000,  the  Davis 
Memorial  Christian  Church.  Hois  untiring  in  his 
labors,  and  his  example,  as  well  as  his  precept,  lias 
led  many  to  walk  in  the  right  path. 

Our  subject  is  a  member  of  the  Odd  Fellows' 
fraternity,  and  is  at  present  serving  his  third  term 
as  Grand  Chaplain  of  the  State  of  Illinois.  He 
has  lectured  frequently  to  Odd  Fellows,  and  has 
filled  all  the  subordinate  .offices  in  the  lodge,  be- 
ing Noble  Grand  for  three  terms,  "and  representa- 
tive to  the  Grand  Lodge.  He  is  at  present  Past 
Chancellor  of  Mystic  Lodge  No.  64,  K.  P.,  and  is 
Chaplain  of  the  Second  Regiment,  Uniformed 
Rank.  With  Francis  M.  Long  Post  No.  347, 
G.  A.  R.,  he  also  holds  membership.  In  politics, 
he  is  a  Republican.  He  was  honored  with  an  elec- 
tion to  the  Thirty-seventh  Illinois  General  Assem- 
bly, being  the  nominee  of  the  Republican  party, 


though  a  minority  candidate.  He  had  a  position 
on  five  important  committees:  Insurance,  Libraries, 
Sanitary. Soldiers'  and  Orphans'  Homes,  and  Mili- 
tary, and  made  one  of  the  nomination  speeches  in 
favor  of  Richard  J.  Oglesby  against  John  M. 
Palmer.  Mr.  AVeedon  enters  with  enthusiasm  and 
energy  into  any  work  that  he  undertakes,  and  his 
progressive  spirit  has  no  doubt  been  an  important 
factor  in  much  of  his  success.  That  he  is  loved 
by  the  people  of  his  church  is  well  indicated  by 
his  long-continued  service,  and  outside  of  his 
own  denomination  he  is  also  held  in  high  regard. 


yiLLIS  H.  SKELTON,  the  efficient  and  well- 
known  agent  of  the  Wabash  Railroad  at 
Taylorville,  has  occupied  his  present  posi- 
tion since  the  spring  of  1887,  and  has  been  con- 
nected with  railroad  work  throughout  his  entire 
business  career.  His  life  record  is  as  follows:  A 
native  of  West  Virginia,  he  was  born  in  Parkers- 
burg  on  the  25th  of  September,  1856,  and  is  a  son 
of  William  M.  Skelton,  who  was  born  in  the  same 
State.  His  mother  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Ellen 
S.  Douglas.  His  parents  remained  in  the  South 
until  1866,  when,  with  their  family,  they  emigrated 
to  Illinois,  taking  up  their  residence  in  Litchfield. 
As  will  be  seen,  our  subject  spent  the  first  ten 
years  of  his  boyhood  in  the  city  of  his  birth.  In 
the  public  schools  he  acquired  his  education,  and 
at  the  age  of  fourteen  he  started  out  to  make  his 
own  way  in  the  world.  Since  that  time  he  has 
been  dependent  entirely  upon  his  own  resources. 
At  that  time  he  secured  a  position  as  telegraph 
messenger  in  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  office 
at  Litchfield,  on  the  Big  Four  Railroad,  where  he 
remained  two  years.  When  a  youth  of  sixteen  he 
began  braking  for  that  road,  with  which  he  con- 
tinued his  connection  until  1885.  During  the 
last  year  he  served  as  conductor.  On  leaving  the 
old  company,  he  entered  the  employ  of  the  Wa- 
bash Road,  with  which  he  continued  as  conductor 
for  two  years,  his  run  being  between  St.  Louis  and 


340 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Decatur.  On  account  of  meritorious  and  faithful 
service,  he  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  office  in 
Taylorville  in  September,  1887,  and  has  since 
filled  that  responsible  position.  He  now  has  five 
employes  under  his  care. 

A.n  important  event  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Skelton 
occurred  on  the  25th  of  March,  1883,  when  was 
celebrated  his  marriage  with  Miss  Clara  Yates,  of 
Gillespie,  111.  Their  union  has  been  blessed  with 
three  children,  a  son  and  two  daughters:  Anna, 
Earl  and  Lottie.  The  parents  are  highly  respected 
citizens,  and  although  their  residence  here  is  of 
comparatively  short  duration,  they  have  already 
won  many  friends.  In  politics,  Mr.  Skelton  is  a 
supporter  of  Republican  principles,  but  has  never 
been  an  aspirant  for  office.  Socially,  he  is  con- 
nected with  Mystic  Lodge  No.  64,  K.  P.  He  is  a 
trusted  and  faithful  employe  of  the  Wabash  Com- 
pan3',  and  the  interests  of  his  employers  will  never 
suffer  at  his  hands. 


^^  EORGE  ARMITAGE  is  a  practical  farmer 
|f|  (_,  of  Bear  Creek  Township,  and  has  lived  on 
'^Jjj  his  farm,  which  is  located  on  section  5,  for 
thirty  years.  This  is  a  well-improved  piece  of 
property,  known  by  the  name  of  Pleasant  View 
(Farm.  The  owner  has  of  late  years  engaged  in 
stock-raising  extensively,  making  a  specialty  of 
fine  grades  of  cattle  and  hogs.  He  has  been  a 
witness  of  much  of  the  development  of  the  county, 
and  has  seen  its  transformation  from  an  unculti- 
vated prairie  to  its  present  condition  of  thrifty 
farms  and  enterprising  villages. 

Our  subject's  paternal  grandfather,  Thomas  Ar- 
mitage,  was  a  native  of  England,  and  was  an  agri- 
culturist. His  family  consisted  of  four  sons  and 
one  daughter,  and  after  living  a  long  and  'useful 
life  he  was  called  to  the  home  beyond.  His  son, 
Arthur,  who  became  the  father  of  our  subject,  was 
reared  to  the  life  of  a  farmer,  but  in  later  years 
was  a  manufacturer.  He  married  Elizabeth  Stead, 


daughter  of  Benjamin  M.  Stead,  who  was  a  fore- 
man in  a  shoe  manufactory.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  was  over  seventy 
years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  death.  The  pa- 
rents of  our  subject  passed  their  entire  lives  in 
England,  where  they  died  within  two  weeks  of 
each  other.  They  had  a  family  of  three  sons  and 
three  daughters,  and  of  the  number  George  is 
probably  the  only  one  now  living. 

Like  his  father,  our  subject  was  reared  on  a 
farm,  and  when  nineteen  years  of  age  he  con- 
cluded to  try  his  fortune  in  the  United  States. 
This  was  in  1841,  and  lie  was  born  March  1,  1822. 
On  his  arrival,  he  at  once  turned  his  face  toward 
the  West,  going  to  live  witli  an  uncle  in  Macoupin 
County,  111,  near  the  village  of  Harris  Point. 
After  remaining  with  him  for  a  year,  he  went  to 
Zanesville,  where  he  spent  one  winter.  About 
this  time  he  undertook  to  learn  the  tanner's  trade, 
but  on  account  of  sickness  was  obliged  to  give  up 
the  idea,  and  in  a  short  time  resumed  agricultural 
pursuits.  In  1844  he  rented  a  farm  of  thirty-five 
acres,  and  thus  got  his  first  start  in  business  life. 
After  his  marriage,  in  1845,  he  purchased  a  farm 
of  thirty  acres,  adjoining  a  tract  of  fifty  acres  in 
Sangamon  County  which  belonged  to  his  wife. 
As  his  resources  allowed,  he  added  land  until  their 
joint  possessions  comprised  three  hundred  acres. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Armitage  and  Miss  Frances 
M.  Crow  was  celebrated  January  27,  1845.  She 
is.  a  daughter  of  Robert  and  Margaret  (Cashner) 
Crow,  the  former  a  native  of  Ireland,  while  the 
mother  was  a  native  of  Maryland  and  of  German 
descent.  Four  children  have  been  born  to  our 
subject  and  his  wife.  Uriah  G.  married  Miss 
Eliza  Loveless,  and  is  engaged  in  farming  one 
mile  west  of  the  old  homestead.  They  have  two 
sons,  Clarence  E.  and  Homer.  Margaret  A.  resides 
with  her  parents.  Robert  B.,  who  wedded  Miss 
Jane  Craig,  has  two  children,  Roy  and-  Bessie,  and  is 
a  resident  of  Willow  Ford,  this  county.  Edward 
C.,  who  married  Miss  Alice  Prime,  and  is  the  fa- 
ther of  two  children,  Bertha  and  Ray,  is  a  res- 
ident of  Virden,  111. 

Selling  his  farm  of  three  hundred  acres  in  San- 
gamon County,  Mr.  Armitage  removed  to  this 
county  in  November,  1863,  and  invested  his 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


341 


means  in  a  place  of  two  hundred  and  seventy 
acres,  where  he  still  continues  to  live.  He  has 
since  added  more  land,  and  now  owns  three  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres.  He  raises  fine  Durham  cat- 
tle and  Berkshire  and  Poland-China  hogs.  He  has 
held  a  number  of  local  offices,  such  as  School  Di- 
rector, Road  Commissioner,  etc.,  and  has  used  his 
influence  in  securing  good  roads  and  other  im- 
provements beneficial  to  the  people  and  county  at 
large.  He  is  a  Mason  of  longstanding,  and,  polit- 
ically, is  a  Democrat.  With  his  family  he  holds 
membership  with  the  Presbyterian  Church. 


G.  RICHARDS,  who  carries  on  general 
farming  on  section  10,  Rosemond  Town- 
ship, where  he  owns  and  operates  one  liun- 
.  dred  and  twenty  acres  of  good  land,  is  a  native 
of  the  Buckeye  State,  his  birth  having  occurred 
near  Canton,  in  Stark  County,  on  the  21st  of 
March,  1839.  His  father,  Abraham  Richards,  was 
a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  was  a  farmer  by 
occupation.  The  paternal  grand  father  of  our  sub- 
ject died  in  Albany,  N.  Y.  Abraham  Richards, 
having  attained  to  mature  years,  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Anna  Gerber,  a  native  of  Ohio 
and  a  daughter  of  John  Gerber,  who  was  born  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  became  one  of  the  pioneers  of 
the  Buckeye  State.  He  settled  in  the  midst  of 
the  forest  and  hewed  out  a  farm,  one  hundred 
miles  from  Pittsburgh,  and  sixty  miles  from  Cleve- 
land. The  latter  was  the  nearest  trading-post,  and 
they  had  to  obtain  many  of  their  supplies  from 
the  Indians.  The  father  of  Mr.  Gerber  was  a 
slave-holder  of  Maryland,  and  removed  from  that 
State  to  Pennsylvania. 

The  parents  of  our  subject  were  married  near 
Canton,  Ohio,  and  located  upon  a  farm  in  Stark 
County,  where  they  reared  their  family.  The  fa- 
ther died  at  the  age  of  sixty-four  years.  He  was 
a  prominent  agriculturist  of  the  community  and 
one  of  the  honored  pioneers.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Methodist  Church.  His  widow,  who  was 


born  in  1812,  is  still  living,  and  makes  her  home 
near  Lincoln.  Neb.  The  family  of  this  worthy 
couple  numbered  five  children,  four  sons  and  a 
daughter,  all  of  whom  are  still  living.  Lydia  is 
the  wife  of  Samuel  Grove,  of  Stark  County,  Ohio. 
John  is  living  on  the  old  homestead  in  Stark 
County.  C.  G.  is  the  next  younger.  David  is 
living  in  Nebraska,  and  Joseph  lives  in  Canton, 
Ohio. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  the  only  represent- 
ative of  the  family  in  Illinois.  He  was  reared  in 
the  county  of  his  nativity,  and  acquired  the 
greater  part  of  hiseducation  in  the  district  schools, 
but  for  one  year  was  a  student  in  Greenbush,  Ohio. 
Under  the  parental  roof  he  remained  and  to  his 
father  gave  the  benefit  of  his  services  until  twenty- 
five  years  of  age,  when  he  started  out  in  life  for 
himself.  Going  to  Noble  County,  Ind.,  he  worked 
on  a  farm  for  $14  per  month,  and  after  a  year  re- 
turned to  his  native  State,  where  he  ran  an  en- 
gine for  a  year.  He  then  again  went  to  Indiana, 
and  worked  for  his  old  employer  for  $20  per 
month.  With  the  money  which  he  could  save  he 
would  purchase  stock,  and  did  considerable  trad- 
ing in  horses  and  cattle.  In  1865  we  again  find 
him  in  Stark  County,  Ohio,  where  he  spent  one 
year,  operating  a  sawmill  south  of  Canton,  in 
which  he  purchased  a  half-interest. 

On  the  3d  of  October,  1867,  Mr.  Richards  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Lucy  Yant,  who  was 
born  in  that  county  and  is  a  daughter  of  Daniel 
Yant,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania.  They  became  the 
parents  of  four  children,  but  two  are  now  de- 
ceased, the  eldest  having  died  in  infancy,  while 
Arthur  died  at  the  age  of  six  years.  Maud  and 
Blanche  are  still  at  home. 

In  the  year  following  his  marriage,  Mr.  Rich- 
ards brought  his  young  wife  to  Christian  County, 
111.,  and  purchased  the  farm  on  which  he  now  re- 
sides. It  was  an  unimproved  place,  the  land  was 
wild,  there  were  no  fences,  and  the  only  building 
was  a  small  frame  house.  The  many  improve- 
ments now  seen  thereon  are  the  handiwork  of  our 
subject.  The  well-tilled  fields  and  good  buildings 
all  indicate  his  thrift  and  enterprise,  and  he  is  justly 
classed  among  the  representative  and  progressive 
agriculturists  of  the  community.  He  has  made  a 


342 


POETRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


specialty  of  the  breeding  of  Jersey  cattle,  and  has 
some  fine  stock  now  on  hand. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Richards  is  a  stalwart  Republi- 
can. He  was  elected  Supervisor  in  1890,  and 
again  in  1892,  and  is  now  holding  that  office.  He 
has  been  School  Trustee  for  fifteen  years,  and  was 
Assessor  for  six  years.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Congregational  Church  of  Rosemond,  and  has 
served  as  Trustee  and  Deacon.  No  man  is  more 
highly  esteemed  in  the  community  than  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch. 


GILBERT  BURNETT  HANKINS,  wh6  for 

)me  years  was  connected  with  the  agri- 
cultural interests  of  Christian  County,  is 
now  living  a  retired  life  in  Taylorville.  He  is  a 
self-made  man,  and  his  business  career  of  strict 
honor  and  integrity  is  well  worthy  of  emulation. 
He  has  been  successful,  yet  his  prosperity  is  not  the 
result  of  good  fortune,  it  being  the  legitimate  out- 
come of  toil  and  energy. 

Mr.  Hankins  is  a  native  of  Kentucky.  He  was 
born  April  12,  1828,  in  Shelby  County,  and  comes 
on  the  maternal  side  from  a  family  of  German 
origin,  which  was  founded  in  America  by  his 
grandparents.  His  father,  Gilbert  Hankins,  Sr., 
was  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  when  a  young  man 
went  to  Kentucky,  where  he  spent  his  remaining 
days.'  His  wife,  who  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Re- 
becca Caress,  was  born  in  that  State. 

Under  the  parental  roof  our  subject  spent  his 
boyhood  days  midst  play  and  work,  no  event  of 
special  importance  occurring  during  his  child- 
hood. In  1856,  he  left  the  State  of  his  nativity 
with  the  determination  to  try  his  fortune  on  the 
broad  prairies  of  Illinois,  and  located  near  Roch- 
ester, in  Sangamon  County.  The  following  year 
he  came  to  Christian  County,  and  when  a  young 
man  he  followed  the  carpenter's  trade.  In  this 
way  he  secured  sufficient  money  to  purchase  a 
farm,  and  became  the  owner  of  a  slightly  im- 
proved tract  of  land  in  South  Fork  Township, 


nine  miles  west  of  Taylorville,  for  which  he  paid 
$12.50  per  acre.  With  characteristic  energy  he 
began  the  development  of  his  land,  and  in  the 
course  of  time  abundant  harvests  rewarded  his  la- 
bors, the  wild  prairie  being  transformed  into  rich 
and  fertile  fields. 

For  a  companion  and  helpmate  on  life's  jour- 
ney, Mr.  Hankins  chose  Miss  Mary  Mason,  the 
daughter  of  John  and  Isabella  (Clemens)  Ma- 
son. Her  father  was  a  native  of  England,  and 
when  a  young  man  came  to  Illinois,  entering 
land  near  Springfield.  He  is  numbered  among 
the  pioneer  settlers  of  Sangamon  County.  Up- 
on his  farm  he  was  married  when  about  twenty- 
one  years  of  age.  His  wife  was  a  native  of  Vir- 
ginia, was  reared  in  Kentucky,  and  at  an  early 
day  came  with  her  parents  to  Illinois.  In  1856, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mason  removed  to  Christian  Coun- 
ty, where  they  lived  until  called  to  the  home 
beyond.  His  death  occurred  in  South  Fork  Town- 
ship in  1878,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one;  and  she 
died  in  Taylorville,  in  1892,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
four,  at  the  home  of  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Hankins. 
Of  their  family  of  eleven  children,  all  grew  to 
mature  years,  and  nine  still  survive  at  this  writ- 
ing, in  the  fall  of  1893.  Mr.  Mason  was  an  exten- 
sive farmer  and  land-owner  in  Christian  and  Macon 
Counties,  and  his  possessions  were  all  acquired 
through  his  own  efforts. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hankins  was  cele- 
brated in  South  Fork  Township,  February  11, 
1864.  They  have  no  children  of  their  own,  but 
have  reared  two:  William  Kelley,  who  came  to  them 
at  the  age  of  thirteen,  and  is  now  living  in  Twin 
City,  Tex.;  and  Mary  Prince,  who  made  her  home 
with  them  from  the  age  of  four  years  until  her 
marriage  to  R.  S.  Peck,  of  Taylorville.  They  now 
reside  in  Ft.  Smith,  Ark.  These  children  received 
good  educational  advantages  and  were  carefully 
and  tenderly  reared. 

In  1875,  Mr.  Hankins  left  his  farm  and  came  to 
Taylorville,  since  which  time  he  has  engaged 
quite  extensively  in  selling  nursery  stock.  He 
still  owns  his  home  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  valuable  land,  and  another  tract  of  eighty 
acres  in  this  county,  besides  some  fine  city  prop- 
erty, including  four  lots  where  he  now '  lives, 


POETRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


343 


upon  which  are  two  good  residences.  Mr.  Han- 
kins  has  never  taken  a  very  prominent  part  in 
public  affairs,  yet  always  faithfully  performs  his 
duties  of  citizenship.  He  was  formerly  a  Republi- 
can in  politics,  but  is  now  a  stalwart  supporter  of 
the  Prohibition  party.  He  was  made  a  Mason  in 
Shelby  County,  Ky.,  about  1854,  and  now  holds 
membership  with  Mound  Lodge  No.  122.  A.  F.  & 
A.  M.,  of  Taylorville. 


JOSEPH  C.  PHINNEY  is  engaged    in    busi- 
ness  in    Taylorville   as   a   contractor   and 
builder.     He  began  operations  in  this   line 
in  1872,  and  during  the  greater  part  of  the 
time  since  has  been  a  leading  member  of  the  trade. 
As  he  is  widely  and  favorably  known,  both  in  bus- 
iness  and   social  circles,  we  feel  assured  that  this 
record  of  his  life  will  prove  of  interest  to  many  of 
our  readers. 

A  native  of  New  York,  Mr.  Phinney  was  born 
in  Lewis  County,  on  the  18th  of  July,  1836,  and 
there  spent  his  first  thirteen  years.  His  father, 
Clark  Phinney,  then  emigrated  with  the  family  to 
Lake  County,  111.,  settling  in  Hainesville.  He 
was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and  under  his  instruc- 
tion our  subject  began  learning  the  business.  His 
father  died  when  Joseph  was  twenty  years  of  age, 
after  which  our  subject  went  to  Lowville,  N.  Y., 
his  native  town,  and  further  perfected  himself  in 
his  knowledge  of  carpentering.  After  finishing 
his  trade,  he  continued  to  follow  the  business  in 
the  East  for  a  year.  He  began  contracting  im- 
mediately after  his  father's  death,  but  on  going 
to  the  Empire  State,  he  found  that  he  could  ad- 
vance in  his  business,  and  in  consequence  de- 
voted himself  to  further  improvement  along  that 
line. 

While  in  New  York,  our  subject  was  married, 
on  the  17th  of  September,  1861,  the  lady  of  his 
choice  being  Miss  Mary  Ellen  Phinney,  his  cousin. 
Their  union  has  been  blessed  with  two  children: 
Charlie  C.,  who  is  now  working  with  his  father; 


and  Grace,  wife  of  Frank  Martin,  agent  for  the 
Adams  Express  Company  of  Taylorville.  The 
family  is  one  of  prominence  in  the  community 
and  its  members  rank  high  in  social  circles. 

Returning  with  his  young  wife  to  Illinois,  Mr. 
Phinney  began  contracting  in  McLean  Countj', 
where  he  remained  until  his  removal  to  Taylor- 
ville, in  1872.  Since  coming  here,  however,  he 
spent  one  year  in  Independence,  Iowa,  and  for 
two  years,  in  1888  and  1889,  he  was  foreman 
in  White's  lumber-yard.  With  the  exception  of 
these  short  periods,  he  has  continuously  carried 
on  business  for  himself  in  Taylorville.  He  em- 
ploys from  six  to  twelve  men,  and  as  he  always 
lives  up  to  his  contracts,  fulfilling  his  part  of  the 
agreement,  he  has  received  a  liberal  patronage, 
which  has  constantly  increased  from  the  begin- 
ning. In  connection  with  contracting  and  build- 
ing, he  has,  to  some  extent,  carried  on  farming,  and 
has  improved  property  in  his  own  interest,  erect- 
ing and  selling  a  number  of  residences.  He  now 
owns  seven  and  a-half  acres  of  land,  lying  adjacent 
to  the  village,  which  he  expects  soon  to  plat  and  add 
to  Taylorville.  Straightforward  and  honorable 
in  all  his  business  dealings,  he  is  a  man  of  un- 
swerving integrity,  and  has  the  confidence  and 
high  regard  of  all  with  whom  he  has  been  brought 
in  contact 


x^APT.  JOHN  EDWARD  HOGAN,  one  of 
(((  r  Taylorville's  popular  and  representative 
^^^7  citizens,  is  here  engaged  in  the  practice  of 
law,  as  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Drennan  <fe  Hogan, 
and  is  Master  in  Chancery  for  Christian  County. 
He  has  the  honor  of  being  one  of  the  native  sons 
of  this  county,  his  birth  having  occurred  in  Pana 
on  the  30th  of  July,  1865.  His  parents  are  Thomas 
and  Mary  A.  (Murphy)  Hogan.  The  father  was  a 
native  of  Ireland,  and  on  leaving  the  Emerald 
Isle  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  America,  where  he 
met  and  married  Miss  Murphy,  a  native  of  Canada. 
In  1866  he  came  with  his  family  to  Taylorville, 


344 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


where  he  is  still  living,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six 
years.  For  some  time  he  was  proprietor  of  the 
Central  Hotel,  but  is  now  living,  a  retired  life. 
His  wife  was  called  to  her  final  rest  in  December, 
1891. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  has  always  lived  in 
the  county  of  his  nativity.  When  in  his  first  year, 
he  was  brought  by  his  parents  to  Taylorville, 
where  midst  play  and  work  his  boyhood  days 
were  passed.  He  entered  upon  his  business  career 
at  the  age  of  fifteen,  at  which  time  he  secured  a 
clerkship  in  the  grocery  store  of  W.  R.  Callaway. 
He  also  served  in  the  same  capacity  with  Baughman 
&  White,  continuing  as  a  clerk  for  five  years. 
Preferring  a  professional  to  a  commercial  life,  how- 
ever, he  decided  to  take  up  the  study  of  law,  and 
at  the  age  of  twenty  entered  the  office  of  J.  G. 
Drennan,  a  well-known  and  prominent  practi- 
tioner. After  receiving  thorough  instruction,  he 
was  admitted  to  the  Bar  before  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Mt.  Vernon,  in  March,  1888.  He  then  em- 
barked in  practice,  and  has  since  followed  his 
chosen  profession.  The  next  month  after  being 
admitted  to  the  Bar,  he  was  elected  Police  Judge, 
and  served  in  that  office  for  a  year.  In  1889  the 
present  partnership  with  Mr.  Drennan  was  formed. 
The  connection  still  continues,  but  in  1892  Mr. 
Drennan  removed  to  Springfield,  and  became  a 
partner  with  the  firm  of  Palmer  <fe  Shutt,  of  the 
capital  city*  The  senior  member  of  the  firm  is 
John  M.  Palmer,  United  States  Senator,  and  Will- 
iam E.  Shutt  is  the  present  District  Attorney  for 
the  United  States. 

Our  subject  exercises  his  right  of  franchise  in 
support  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  is  one  of  the 
stalwart  advocates  of  the  Democracy.  He  has 
been  a  member  of  the  County  Central  Committee 
for  some  time,  and  is  now  its  Secretary.  In  cam- 
paign work  he  is  very  active,  and  is  an  able 
speaker.  Mr.  Hogan  is  also  the  popular  Captain 
of  Company  B,  Fifth  Regiment  Illinois  National 
Guards,  which  numbers  sixty  men.  It  was  for- 
merly commanded  by  Capt.  Arthur  Crooker,  and 
under  his  leadership  took  part  in  many  compet- 
itive drills  and  won  a  number  of  prizes.  The 
troops  attended  the  New  Orleans  Exposition  in 
1885,  camping  at  Mobile.  This  company  has  fur- 


nished a  number  of  illustrious  men,  including 
Col.  McKnight,  who  served  on  the  staff  of  the 
Governor,  and  Col.  Culver,  of  Springfield,  who 
commands  the  Fifth  Regiment.  Capt.  Hogan  has 
filled  his  office  for  a  year.  In  1892  he  attended 
the  Encampment  at  Springfield,  and  in  October  of 
that  year  went  with  his  men  to  Chicago  to  take 
part  in  the  dedicatory  exercises  of  the  World's 
Fair.  The  company  is  now  well  equipped,  and 
takes  rank  among  the  best  in  the  State.  Mr.  Ho- 
gan isalsoVice-President  of  the  Arion  Club.  His 
pleasant,  genial  nature  makes  him  a  favorite,  and 
throughout  the  community  he  has  a  large  circle  of 
friends. 


WILLIAM  L.  COHENOUR,  one  of  the  prom- 
inent and  representative  citizens  of  Pana, 
has  the  honor  of  being  a  native  of  Illinois, 
his  birth  having  occurred  near  Griggsville,  in 
Pike  County,  September  10,  1837.  His  parents, 
Jacob  N.  and  Jane  (Likeley)  Cohenour,  were  both 
natives  of  Pennsylvania,  and  in  the  Keystone 
State  were  married.  One  child  was  there  born 
unto  them,  and  in  1836  they  came  with  it  to  Illi- 
nois. The  father  was  a  carpenter  and  farmer,  and 
spent  his  remaining  days  in  Pike  County,  where  his 
death  occurred  in  1868,  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven 
years.  His  wife  was  called  to  her  final  rest  in 
1857. 

The  boyhood  days  of  our  subject  were  quietly 
passed  upon  his  father's  farm  until  eighteen  years 
of  age,  when  he  turned  his  attention  to  commer- 
cial pursuits.  He  had  been  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  and  in  the  Pittsfield  Academy,  and  at 
the  age  of  eighteen  he  entered  a  store  in  Pitts- 
field,  where  he  engaged  in  clerking  for  several 
years.  He  later  engaged  in  teaching  in  Pike 
County,  and  was  also  employed  as  a  teacher  in 
Nodaway  County,  Mo.,  after  which  he  returned  to 
the  State  of  his  nativity  and  taught  school  in  St. 
Clair  County  until  1863. 

On  the  10th  of  December,  1863,  was  celebrated 
the  marriage  of  Mr.  Cohenour  and  Miss  Mary  S. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


345 


Moore,  of  St.  Clair  County.  Uuto  them  have 
been  born  the  following  children:  Charles  A.,  who 
read  law  in  Algona,  Iowa,  was  admitted  to  the  Bar 
in  June,  1892,  and  is  now  practicing  in  Sioux  City, 
Iowa;  Jacob  A.,  a  hardware  merchant  of  Oconee, 
111.;  William  L.,  who  is  engaged  in  farming  in 
Harper  County,  Kan.;  Mertie  J.,  Howard  H.,  Cora 
J.  and  Mary  Florence.  The  four  last  named  are 
still  under  the  parental  roof. 

Mr.  Cohenour  located  in  Bond  County,  111.,  in 
1864,  and  in  the  spring  of  1865  came  to  Christian 
County,  settling  four  miles  northwest  of  Pana, 
where  he  purchased  of  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road Company  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of 
wild  land,  at  $11  per  acre.  Since  that  time  he  has 
engaged  in  farming  in  Pana  and  Assumption 
Townships,  having  improved  two  hundred  and 
forty  acres  of  fine  farming  land  iii  Assumption 
Township,  besides  the  tract  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  above  mentioned.  He  has  also  lived 
on  two  other  farms.  He  now  owns  and  manages 
a  quarter-section  of  land  in  Assumption  Township, 
and  has  thirty  acres  where  he  now  lives,  adjoin- 
ing the  city  of  Pana.  In  addition,  he  has  some 
land  in  Clark  County,  Kan.,  and  some  in  Florida, 
which  is  adapted  to  orange-growing.  He  has  car- 
ried on  a  general  line  of  farming  and  has  culti- 
vated a  fine  orchard  of  about  seventeen  acres.  At 
one  time  he  resided  in  Pana  for  about  four  years, 
during  which  time  he  was  engaged  in  the  grocery 
trade. 

Mr.  Cohenour  has  been  honored  with  a  number 
of  local  offices,  having  served  as  Justice  of  the 
Peace  and  Supervisor  of  Assumption  Township 
with  credit  to  himself  and  to  the  satisfaction  of 
his  constituents.  He  was  made  a  Mason  in  New 
Salem  Lodge,  of  Pike  County,  when  he  was  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  is  a  member  of  both  the  blue 
lodge  and  chapter  in  Pana,  an'd  himself  and  wife 
belong  to  the  Order  of  the  Eastern  Star.  She  is 
also  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
Mr.  Cohenour  has  been  prominently  connected 
with  the  business  interests  of  Pana  and  was  one  of 
the  incorporates  of  the  First  National  Bank,  which 
was  established  in  May,  1889.  At  the  first  elec- 
tion held  he  was  made  its  President,  and  has  since 
continued  to  fill  that  position.  He  gives  tlie  bank 


his  personal  supervision,  and  under  his  able  man- 
agement it  is  now  in  a  flourishing  condition.  He 
was  one  of  the  promoters  of,  and  is  a  stockholder  in, 
the  Pana  Fair  Association,  and  up  to  within  a  year 
was  superintendent  of  the  textile  department.  In 
connection  with  others  he  was  prominent  in  the 
development  of  the  coal  interests,  which  have 
proven  one  of  the  leading  industries  of  this  locality. 
Our  subject  is  a  man  of  excellent  business  ability, 
sagacious  and  far-sighted,  enterprising  arid  pro- 
gressive, and  to  his  efforts  the  upbuilding  and 
prosperity  of  the  community  are  due  in  no  small 
degree.  His  labors  have  brought  him  success,  and 
he  is  now  the  owner  of  a  handsome  competency  as 
the  result  of  his  good  management. 


J^jft  RTHUR  CLARK  BUTLER,  who  is  Princi- 
I^O|  pal  of  the  Taylorville  Township  High 
jnt  School,  and  is  recognized  as  one  of  the 
^f/  leading  educators  of  central  Illinois,  has 
spent  his  entire  life  in  this  State,  being  numbered 
among  her  native  sons.  He  was  born  near  Jack- 
sonville, in  Morgan  County,  on  the  llth  of  April, 
1848.  His  father,  James  L.  Butler,  was  a  native 
of  Virginia,  and  after  arriving  at  years  of  matur- 
ity he  married  Oletha  Sargent,  who  was  born  in 
the  Buckeye  State. 

Prof.  Butler  spent  the  first  fourteen  years  of  his 
life  in  the  county  of  his  nativity,  and  from  that 
time  until  he  had  arrived  at  man's  estate  he  lived 
upon  a  prairie  farm  in  Macon  County,  near  Blue 
Mound.  He  early  became  familiar  with  agricul- 
tural pursuits,  and  aided  his  father  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  land  until  he  had  arrived  at  years  of 
maturity.  His  educational  privileges  previous  to 
that  time  were  limited.  He  had  attended  the 
common  schools,  and  for  two  years  was  a  student 
in  the  State  Normal.  Anxious  to  acquire  a  good 
education,  his  own  labors  made  it  possible  for  him 
to  carry  out  this  desire.  While  still  upon  the 
home  farm  he  engaged  in  teaching,  and  for  some 
years  his  time  was  spent  between  teaching  and  study 


346 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


in  the  State  Normal.  It  was  seven  years  before 
he  had  completed  the  four-year  course  of  that  in- 
stitution, as  his  studies  were  interrupted  by  the 
teaching,  which  made  it  possible  for  him  to  pay 
his  tuition  and  meet  his  other  expenses. 

At  length,  however,  Prof.  Butler  was  graduated 
in  1878,  and  among  twenty-six  pupils  carried  off 
the  class  honors.  He  also  studied  the  languages, 
not  included  in  the  regular  course.  Since  that 
time  he  has  been  continuously  engaged  in  educa- 
tional work.  For  two  years  he  was  employed  as 
Principal  of  the  schools  of  Virginia,  Cass  County, 
and  then  went  to  Beardstown,  where  for  nine 
years  he  was  employed  as  Superintendent  of  the 
schools  of  that  city  of  five  thousand  inhabitants. 
While  there  he  introduced  manual  training  into 
the  schools,  a  feature  which  attracted  much  atten- 
tion among  educators.  In  July,  1891,  he  came  to 
Taylorville,  where  he  has  now  taught  for  two 
years.  This  was  an  instance  of  the  place  seeking 
the  man,  for  after  the  committee  visited  his  school 
at  Beardstown  the  position  was  offered  him. 

On  the  loth  of  June,  1871,  in  Christian  County, 
Prof.  Butler  married  Miss  Eliza  Eaton,  of  Prairie- 
town  Township,  a  daughter  of  William  K.  and  E. 
Eaton,  early  settlers  of  this  county.  Unto  them 
have  been  born  three  children:  Wilbur  F.,  who  is 
now  serving  as  operator  in  Taylorville;  Gazella,who 
devotes  her  time  to  the  study  of  music;  and  Ruby 
Alberta.  The  ancestors  of  our  subject  were  prom- 
inent members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  he  and  his  family  hold  the  same  faith.  He 
takes  quite  an  active  part  in  church  work,  is  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  has  borne  a 
prominent  part  in  building  the  new  house  of  wor- 
ship. He  was  made  a  Mason  in  Beardstown. 

Mr.  Butler  devotes  much  of  his  vacations  to  in- 
stitute work.  He  is  a  member  of  the  State  Teach- 
ers' Association,  and  for  one  year  was  President 
of  the  Central  Illinois  Teachers'  Association.  He 
has  contributed  many  able  articles  to  educational 
journals,  and  in  1892  the  Blackburn  University,  of 
Carlinville,  conferred  upon  him  the  honorary  de- 
gree of  A.  M.  In  May,  1893,  he  commenced  a 
series  of  articles  in  the  School  News,  entitled 
"Tea-table  Talks  on  Education."  These  articles 
are  of  special  interest  to  teachers,  and  have  re- 


ceived favorable  comment  from  many  persons  in- 
terested in  promoting  the  best  welfare  of  our  edu- 
cational system.  The  same  enterprise  and  resolute 
spirit  which  secured  for  him  his  education  have 
made  Mr.  Butler's  life  a  success  and  won  for  him 
the  high  position  which  he  to-day  occupies  among 
teachers. 


.  WALLS,  editor  of  the  Democrat,  is  a  na- 
tive of  Edgar  County,  111.,  and  first  saw 
the  light  at  Paris  December  3,  1852.  He 
attended  the  public  schools  of  that  city  until 
he  was  nine  years  old,  when  his  father,  Elza 
Walls,  having  died,  he  removed  with  his  mother, 
(who  re-married  two  years  afterward)  to  a  farm. 
The  war  coming  on  unsettled  the  country  school, 
and  for  the  next  eight  years  he  had  little  or  no 
opportunity  for  education.  Happening  to  see  in 
a  copy  of  a  local  newspaper  that  a  boy  was  wanted 
to  learn  the  printing  trade,  he  applied  for  the  po- 
sition, was  accepted,  and  in  two  years  became  fore- 
man. Having  employed  all  his  time  between  7 
p.  M.  and  midnight  in  study,  a  year  later  he  was 
advanced  to  the  position  of  associate  editor,  which 
he  threw  up  to  enter  college  at  Chicago.  While  a 
student,  he  dashed  off  a  few  lines  of  jingle,  which 
he  sent  to  the  Terre  Haute  (Ind.)  Gazette,  and  which 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  editor,  O.  J.  Smith, 
who  offered  him  a  place  on  the  editorial  staff  of 
the  Saturday  Evening  Mail,  which  he  contemplated 
establishing.  He  remained  with  the  Mail  for  nine 
months,  when  he  took  editorial  charge  of  the  Mo- 
ravia (Iowa)  Vedette.  He  left  Moravia  to  estab- 
lish the  Democrat  at  Princeton,  Mo.,  but  in  a  few 
months  returned  to  Moravia  and  started  the  Mess- 
enger. 

Mr.  Walls  married  Miss  Mary  McDivitt,  of  Ed- 
gar County,  111.,  and  bought  the  Indianian,  the 
Democratic  organ  of  Hendricks  County,  and  re- 
moved to  Danville,  Ind.,  in  June,  1872.  He  re- 
mained at  Danville  for  five  years,  and  was  Chair- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


347 


man  of  the  Democratic  Central  Committee  during 
all  of  that  time.  In  1879  he  removed  to  Decatur, 
111.,  and  established  the  Decatur  Saturday  Herald, 
now  the  Herald  Despatch.  His  health  failing,  he 
sold  the  Herald  and  did  a  little  reportorial  work 
on  the  Republican,  at  Paris,  111.  In  1881  he  bought 
the  Macon  (111.)  Independent,  and  a  year  later  es- 
tablished the  Assumption  Enterprise.  He  ran  both 
papers  for  two  years,  and  then  bought  the  Monti- 
cello  (111.)  Bulletin,  making  Monticello  his  head- 
quarters. Not  content  with  having  three  papers 
on  his  hands,  he  entered  the  Railway  Mail  Service 
as  Postal  Clerk  on  the  Champaign  <fe  Havana  Line. 
He  passed  a  final  examination  at  the  end  of  three 
months,  in  half  the  time  required,  leased  the  Ma- 
con  and  Assumption  papers,  and  remained  in  the 
service  for  nearly  two  and  a-half  years,  when  he 
sold  the  two  smaller  papers  and  bought  the  Tay- 
lorville  Democrat  and  removed  to  Taylorville 
March  31,  1888.  In  May  he  resigned  ;  as  Postal 
Clerk,  and  in  October  following  he  sold  the  Mon- 
ticello Bulletin.  Having  only  one  paper  to  run, 
he  turned  his  attention  partially  to  invention,  and 
had  obtained  ten  patents  up  to  the  date  of  the  is- 
sue of  this  work.  He  was  Secretary  of  the  Demo- 
cratic Central  Committee  of  Christian  County  for 
more  than  four  years,  and  since  Januaiy,  1893, 
has  been  Chairman.  Such,  in  brief,  is  the  record 
of  a  busy  life,  and  a  gratifying  triumph  over  many 
difficulties. 


jr_ENRY  A.  PEABODY,  a  successful  and  en. 

rjV  terprising  merchant  of  Taylorville,  now 
ii)^^  carries  on  business  as  a  dealer  in  groceries, 

(^)  glass  and  queensware  and  pocket  and 
table  cutlery.  He  has  carried  on  business  along 
this  line  since  1878,  and  has  succeeded  in  securing 
a  good  trade,  which  is  constantly  increasing.  It 
is  his  desire  to  please  his  custo  mers,  and,  carrying 
a  stock  of  goods  such  as  the  public  demands,  he 
has  met  with  success. 

Mr.  Peabody  is  a  native  of  the  county  which  is 


still  his  home,  his  birth  having  occurred  on  the 
27th  of  September,  1848.  His  father,  Amos  Pea- 
body,  was  born  in  Connecticut,  and  the  grand- 
father, Samuel  Peabody,  was  also  a  native  of  the 
same  State.  The  latter  left  the  East  and,  joining 
the  Stonington  colony,  came  with  his  family  to 
Illinois  in  1837.  He  was  a  farmer  by  occupation 
and  followed  that  pursuit  throughout  his  whole 
life.  He  died  in  this  county,  being  drowned  in 
Flat  Branch  when  more  than  seventy  years  of 
age.  Amos  Peabody  for  many  years  followed 
farming  in  Christian  County.  He  married  Wil- 
helmina  Fredericka  Stetcher,  a  native  of  Germany, 
who  when  a  young  lad}'  crossed  the  Atlantic  with 
her  parents,  the  family  settling  in  Christian 
County.  Her  father  died  in  Springfield  at  an  ad- 
vanced age,  and  her  mother  reached  the  age  of 
eighty  years.  Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Peabody  were 
born  three  children,  but  two  died  in  infancy. 
The  mother  died  in  1850,  after  which  Mr.  Pea- 
body  was  again  married.  By  the  second  union 
four  children  were  born.  Orrin,  Samuel,  and  two 
who  died  in  infancy.  The  father  of  our  subject 
is  now  eighty  years  of  age.  With  his  wife  he  is 
still  living  in  Taylorville,  one  of  its  respected 
citizens. 

Henry  A.,  whose  name  heads  this  record,  was 
reared  in  the  county  of  his  nativity,  and  began 
his  education  in  the  district  schools,  but  his 
primary  course  was  afterwards  supplemented  by 
study  in  the  High  School  of  Decatur  and  in  the 
Commercial  College  at  Springfield,  so  that  he  was 
well  fitted  to  enter  upon  the  practical  duties  of 
life.  On  the  5th  of  October,  1880,  he  was  joined 
in  marriage  with  Miss  Elizabeth  A.  Jones,  of  Sang- 
amon  County,  a  daughter  of  Moses  A.  and  Nancy 
(Armstrong)  Jones.  -Their  marriage  has  been 
blessed  with  one  child,  a  son,  Frederick  A. 

Mr.  Peabody  takes  considerable  interest  in 
civic  societies  and  belongs  to  Mystic  Lodge  No. 
64,  K.  P.,  and  Birchfield  Camp  No.  130,  M.  W.  A. 
He  is  a  charter  member  of  both  societies,  and  has 
been  Clerk  of  the  Camp  since  its  organization.  In 
politics,  he  is  independent,  preferring  to  support  the 
man  whom  he  thinks  best  qualified  for  the  office, 
regardless  of  party  affiliations.  In  1893,  he  was 
called  upon  to  mourn  the  loss  of  his  wife,  who 


348 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


was  called  to  her  final  rest  in  March,  at  tlie  age  of 
forty-two  years.  She  was  a  lady  of  many  excel- 
lencies of  character,  and  a  large  circle  of  friends 
and  acquaintances  mourned  her  loss. 

Mr.  Peabody  continued  to  follow  farming  with 
good  success  until  1875,  when  he  determined  to 
make  his  home  in  the  city.  However,  he  still 
owns  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  rich  and 
valuable  land  in  Prairieton  Township,  which 
yields  him  a  good  income.  He  also  has  a  pleasant 
residence  in  Taylorville  besides  his  store.  His 
property  has  all  been  accumulated  by  his  own  in- 
dustry and  economy,  and  is  the  reward  which 
crowns  his  well-directed  efforts. 


JOHN  W.  PRICE,  of  the  firm  of  Price  &  Wil- 
kinson,  proprietors   of  the  Ruth  Mills,  of 
Taylorville,  has  been  engaged  in  his  present 
line  of  business  since  1867,  and  the  present 
partnership  has  continued  since  1869.     A  native 
of  Ohio,  he  was  born  in  Leesville,  Carroll  County, 
October   12,  1829,  and  is  a  son   of    James  Price, 
who  was  also  born  in   Ohio,  and  is  still  living  in 
Carroll  County,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety- 
four. 

Our  subject  spent  the  days  of  his  boyhood  and 
youth  in  the  county  of  his  nativity,  and  served  a 
four-years  apprenticeship  to  the  carpenter's  trade. 
In  1856,  he  bade  good-bye  to  friends  and  home  and 
came  to  the  West,  believing  that  he  could  better 
his  financial  condition  thereby.  He  started  for 
Kansas,  but  the  slavery  troubles  were  then  agitat- 
ing that  community,  and  he  made  a  location  in 
Christian  County,  where  he  has  since  resided. 
He  was  first  employed  on  the  court  house,  and 
then  worked  as  a  journeyman  for  two  years,  when 
he  began  contracting  in  his  own  interest.  The 
first  work  upon  which  he  was  engaged  was  the 
erection  of  the  old  Forest  Mills,  which  were 
burned  about  1870.  He  then  built  the  residence 
of  W.  A.  Goodrich  and  Judge  W.  S.  Moore,  erect- 
ing the  latter  in  1860,  on  the  site  of  the  present 


High  School.  Mr.  Price  continued  contracting  and 
building  until'lie  built  his  mill,  since  which  time 
he  has  devoted  his  energies  to  milling  and  to  the 
grain  business. 

On  the  18th  of  February,  1862,  Mr.  Price  mar- 
ried Miss  Ilattie  Cowgill,  who  was  born  in  the 
Buckeye  State.  They  are  both  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  are  pleasant,  genial  peo- 
ple, who  in  their  intercourse  with  the  residents  of 
the  community  have  gained  man}'  warm  friends 
who  esteem  them  highly.  In  early  life,  Mr.  Price 
was  a  supporter  of  the  Whig  party,  but  on  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Republican  party  he  joined  its 
ranks,  voting  for  Fremont  in  1856,  and  has  since 
fought  under  its  banner.  He  has  efficiently  served 
as  Township  Trustee,  and  in  other  ways  has  been 
connected  with  public  affairs,  especially  in  aiding 
and  encouraging  any  enterprise  calculated  to 
prove  of  public  benefit.  He  is  a  strong  friend  to 
temperance  and  has  always  opposed  license.  In 
1855,  he  was  made  a  Mason  in  Urichsville,  Ohio, 
and  has  been  an  active  member  of  the  fraternity, 
being  now  Worthy  Master  of  Mound  Lodge  No. 
122,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.  His  wife  holds  membership 
with  the  Order  of  the  Eastern  Star.  They  have  an 
attractive  home,  situated  on  the  principal  street  of 
Taylorville,  and  it  is  always  open  for  the  recep- 
tion of  their  many  friends. 

Mr.  Price  has  made  some  investments  in  real 
estate,  and  now  owns  two  residences  in  the  city, 
but  gives  his  principal  attention  to  the  milling 
business.  The  Ruth  Mill  was  built  by  Moore, 
Price  &  Co.  in  1867,  at  a  cost  of  $27,000.  After 
a  year  Judge  W.  S.  Moore,  the  senior  partner, 
who  is  now  living  in  Morrisonville,  111.,  retired, 
leaving  Mr.  Price  and  Mr.  Wilkinson  as  proprie- 
tors, and  their  connection  has  continued,  under  the 
name  of  Price  &  Wilkinson,  from  the  year  1869 
up  to  the  present  time.  The  mill  stands  near  the 
Ohio  &  Mississippi  Railroad.  An  addition  was 
made  in  1883,  and  the  roller  process  was  intro- 
duced. It  has  a  capacity  of  two  hundred  barrels 
daily.  They  also  handle  grain  at  other  places. 
They  have  a  mill  and  do  business  at  Farmingdale, 
and  have  an  elevator  at  Morrisonville,  but  it  is 
rented.  They  have  mad«  extensive  shipments  of 
their  flour,  which  has  been  sent  into  the  Caroliuas, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


349 


Florida  and  Georgia,  and  even  to  Minneapolis, 
which  is  considered  to  be  the  centre  of  flour  manu- 
factories. Mr.  Price  is  a  man  of  excellent  busi- 
ness ability,  and  by  close  attention  to  his  business, 
together  with  perseverance  and  enterprise,  he  has 
succeeded  in  establishing  a  fine  trade  and  acquir- 
ing a  handsome  competence.  Thirty-seven  years 
have  passed  since  he  came  to  the  county,  during 
which  time  he  has  not  only  witnessed  its  growth 
and  upbuilding  but  has  aided  materially  in  its 
welfare  and  progress.  He  well  deserves  mention 
in  this  volume  among  the  honored  early  settlers 
and  men  of  prominence. 


JACOB  YOCKEY,  a  retired  farmer  now  resid- 
ing in  Taylorville,  has  made  his  home  in 
Christian  County  for  almost  thirty  years. 
As  he  is  both  widely  and  favorably  known, 
we  feel  assured  that  this  record  of   his  life  will 
prove  of    interest   to  many  of  our  readers,  and 
therefore   gladly  give   this  sketch  a  place  in  the 
history  of  his  adopted  county.     The  place  of  his 
birth  was  near  Chambersburg,  Franklin   County, 
Pa.,  the  date  being  November   17,  1835.     His  pa- 
rents, Joseph  and  Elizabeth  (Snyder)  Yockey,were 
also  natives  of  the  Keystone  State,  and  the  father 
was  a  farmer  by  occupation.     With   their  family 
they  emigrated  to    Ohio   about    1852,  and    there 
the  parents  spent  their  remaining  days. 

Mr.  Yockey  comes  of  a  very  old  Pennsylvania 
family,  his  great-grandfather  having  been  born  in 
Lancaster  County,  that  State,  as  was  also  his 
grandfather,  John  Yockey,  who  removed  to  Frank- 
lin County,  where  his  son  Joseph,  the  father  of 
our  subject,  was  born.  His  great-grandfather  on 
the  maternal  side,  Conrad  Snyder,  was  born  in 
Prussia,  and  emigrated  to  this  country  when  a 
young  man,  settling  in  Pennsylvania.  John  Sny- 
der, son  of  Conrad,  was  born  in  Franklin  County. 
He  served  as  a  Colonel  in  the  War  of  1812  and 
was  a  prominent  man  in  his  time. 


Mr.  Yockey  of  this  sketch  was  a  young  man  of 
seventeen  years  at  the  time  of  the  removal.  At 
the  age  of  twenty  he  left  home  and  went  to  Akron, 
Ohio,  where  he  secured  a  clerkship  in  a  drug  and 
grocery  store,  receiving  about  $800  per  year  for 
his  services.  Later  he  suffered  from  a  lingering 
illness,  and  in  order  to  benefit  his  health  removed 
to  Columbus,  Ind.,  in  1857.  He  then  engaged  in 
teaching  school  in  Bartholomew  County  until  the 
fall  of  1864,  and  proved  an  able  and  successful 
instructor. 

On  the  llth  of  August,  1864,  Mr.  Yockey  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Sarah  Martin,  their 
union  being  celebrated  in  Indianapolis,  Ind.  The 
same  year  they  came  to  Christian  County,  where 
they  have  since  resided.  Their  union  has  been 
blessed  by  the  birth  of  six  children,  as  follows: 
Dr.  William  M.,who  was  graduated  from  the  Nor- 
mal School  of  Valparaiso,  Ind.,  and  was  graduated 
from  the  Rush  Medical  College,  of  Chicago,  in 
1891,  has  since  been  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his 
profession  in  Joplin,  Mo.;  Jacob  Arthur  is  now  a 
student  in  the  Valparaiso  Normal  School;  Sarah 
Louise,  Charlotte  Emma,  Jane  Miriam  and  Ella 
May  are  the  younger  members  of  the  family. 

On  coming  to  Christian  County,  Mr.  Yockey 
located  in  Mt.  Auburn  Township,  about  twelve 
miles  north  of  Taylorville,  and  resided  just  east 
of  Grove  City  for  nineteen  years.  Subsequently 
he  purchased  a  farm  two  miles  southwest  of  Mt. 
Auburn,  comprising  two  hundred  and  eighty-two 
acres  of  arable  and  valuable  land,  upon  which  he 
resided  until  the  1st  of  January,  1893.  This  is 
one  of  the  best  farms  and  most  desirable  places  in 
the  county,  being  complete  in  all  its  appointments 
and  supplied  with  all  modern  conveniences.  The 
fields  are  well  tilled  and  the  improvements  stand 
as  monuments  to  the  thrift  and  enterprise  of  the 
owner.  His  property  lias  increased  in  value  from 
$44  to  $80  per  acre.  When  he  came  to  the  county 
he  had  only  about  $1,500,  but  is  now  numbered 
among  the  substantial  citizens  of  Taylorville.  In 
addition  to  his  other  property  he  owns  a  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acre  farm  in  May  Township,  north 
of  Willey  Station,  which  is  rented. 

In  1892  Mr.  Yockey  erected  a  neat  residence  in 
Taylorville  at  a  cost  of  $2,500,  and  since  the  1st 


350 


PORTRAIT  AXD  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


of  January,  1893,  has  made  his  home  in  this  city, 
where  he  is  now  living  a  retired  life,  enjoying  a 
well-earned  rest.  In  politics,  he  is  a  supporter  of 
Democratic  principles,  takes  an  active  interest  in 
the  success  of  his  party,  and  has  been  called  upon 
to  fill  various  township  offices,  the  duties  of  which 
lie  has  ever  discharged  with  promptness  and  fidel- 
ity. He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church,  and  he  served  the  congrega- 
tion at  Grove  City  as  Trustee. 


JOSEPH  DAWSON,  a  retired  farmer,  now 
living  in  Taylorvillc,  is  a  native  of  the 
Buckeye  State.  He  was  born  in  Tuscarawas 
County,  Ohio,  September  14,  1823,  and  is  a 
son  of  Joseph  and  Orpha  (Bufflngton)  Dawson. 
His  parents  were  both  natives  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  their  marriage  was  celebrated  in  that  State. 
Removing  to  Tuscarawas  County,  Ohio,  they 
there  spent  the  remainder  of  their  lives. 

Our  subject  is  the  youngest  in  a  family  of  six 
ions  and  three  daughters,  all  of  whom  grew  to 
mature  years,  while  four  are  now  living.  He  was 
a  lad  of  only  four  summers  when  his  parents 
located  upon  the  old  homestead  farm,  where  their 
last  days  were  spent.  He  aided  in  the  labors  of 
the  field  and  attended  the  public  schools  until 
seventeen  years  of  age,  after  which  he  served  an 
apprenticeship  of  two  years  and  a-half  to  the  black- 
smith trade  in  Uhrichsville.  The  first  year  he  re- 
ceived $35,  the  second  $50,  and  $125  for  the  last 
six  months.  After  his  term  had  expired  he  con- 
tinued to  work  for  his  employer,  Andrew  Brisbane, 
who  is  now  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  at  Pana. 

On  the  12th  of  March,  184(5,  in  Uhrichsville, 
Mr.  Dawson  wedded  Lucinda  Treakle.  He  then 
formed  a  partnership  and  opened  a  shop.  He  had 
only  $65  in  cash  and  went  in  debt  $75  for  his 
tools.  There  he  remained  for  eight  years,  carry- 
ing on  business  with  fair  success.  On  the  25th  of 
September,  1854,  he  started  from  his  Ohio  home 
to  Illinois  by  team,  and  at  length  arrived  in 


Taylorville.  He  settled  on  the  Buckeye  Prairie, 
but  in  the  spring  of  1855  removed  to  John- 
son Township,  where  he  rented  land  for  three 
years,  operating  it  in  the  summer  months  and 
working  at  his  trade  in  town  during  the  winter. 
When  he  had  obtained  a  sufficient  capital,  he  pur- 
chased eighty  acres  of  partially  improved  land  in 
Johnson  Township,  three  and  a-half  miles  south- 
east of  Taylorville,  and  also  a  tract  of  raw  land 
of  eighty  acres.  Previously  he  had  traded  a  horse 
for  forty  acres  near  Rosemond,and  subsequently 
bought  another  forty-acre  tract.  Mr.  Dawson 
continued  to  carry  on  agricultural  pursuits  in 
Johnson  Township  until  September,  1890,  and 
made  of  his  place  a  finely  improved  farm,  one  of 
the  best  in  the  county.  It  sold  for  $50  cash  per 
acre.  In  connection  with  the  raising  of  crops,  he 
engaged  in  breeding  and  raising  fine  hogs,  and 
was  quite  successful  in  the  undertaking.  On 
account  of  rheumatism  that  crippled  one  arm,  Mr. 
Dawson  was  forced  to  lay  aside  business  cares,  and 
in  1890  he  removed  to  Taylorville. 

In  1878.  our  subject  was  called  upon  to  mourn 
the  loss  of  his  wife,  who  died  on  the  14th  of  Sep- 
tember, his  fifty-fifth  birthday.  She  had  proved 
a  faithful  companion  and  helpmate  to  him  for 
thirty-two  years.  Unto  them  were  born  the  follow- 
ing children:  Sarah  Emeline,  who  died  at  the  age 
of  eighteen;  John  F.,  a  farmer  and  stock-dealer  of 
Missouri;  Amanda  A.,  wife  of  Samuel  Denton,  of 
Taylorville;  Alice  A.,  wife  of  John  Robinson,  of 
Kansas;  William  A.,  a  carpenter  of  Missouri; 
Cynna  A.,  wife  of  Ed  H.  Hopson,  of  Texas;  Laura 
B.,at  home;  Julia  A.,  widow  of  Adam  J.  Aufrecht; 
and  Henry,  who  died  at  the  age  of  three  years. 
Julia  was  married  May  13,  1891,  to  Adam  Auf- 
recht, who  for  three  years  had  been  employed  as 
motorman  on  the  St.  Louis  Street  Railway.  Shortly 
after  his  marriage  he  was  stricken  with  typhoid 
fever,  and  died  at  the  home  of  Mr.  Dawson 
August  22,  1891.  His  widow  has  since  lived  with 
her  father.  Four  years  before  her  marriage  she 
engaged  in  teaching,  and  recently  she  has  taken  a 
course  of  study  in  the  business  college  of  Spring- 
field. 

Since  coming  to  Taylorville,  Mr.  Dawson  has 
purchased  a  number  of  residences,  which  he  rents, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD 


351 


and  thus  a  good  income  is  afforded  him.  His  own 
home  is  a  pleasant  dwelling  on  Franklin  Street. 
He  has  led  a  busy  and  useful  life,  and  his  industry 
and  perseverance  have  gained  for  him  a  comfort- 
able competence,  which  is  well  deserved. 


WALTON,  M.  D.,  is  a  physician 
surgeon  of  Clarksdale,  Christian  Coun- 
ty,  where  he  has  been  engaged  in  practice 
for  nearly  twenty  years.  His  patients  do  not 
come  merely  from  the  town,  but  are  scattered 
throughout  the  neighboring  country.  He  is  de- 
scended from  an  old  North  Carolina  family,  his 
birth  having  occurred  near  Morgan  ton,  that  State, 
January  22,  1849.  His  parents,  Thomas  G.  and 
Eliza  (Murphy)  Walton,  were  also  natives  of  North 
Carolina.  The  father  was  a  son  of  Thomas  Wal- 
ton, whose  birth  occurred  in  the  Old  Dominion. 
When  very  young  he  removed  to  North  Carolina, 
and  was  the  first  merchant  and  Postmaster  in  Mor- 
gan ton.  He  reared  a  large  family,  and  died  at  the 
age  of  seventy-nine  years.  Our  subject's  ma- 
ternal grandfather  attained  the  age  of  about 
sixty  years. 

Thomas  G.  Walton,  who  is  still  living  near  Mor- 
ganton,  is  a  farmer  and  politician  of  local  promi- 
nence. He  was  a  soldier  during  the  late  war  in 
the  Confederate  army,  and  for  a  time  was  Captain 
of  an  independent  company.  He  did  not,  how- 
ever, serve  until  the  close  of  the  conflict,  but  was 
retired  on  account  of  his  age.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Episcopal  Church,  as  was  also  his  wife,  who 
died  in  1881.  They  were  the  parents  of  eleven 
children,  six  sons  and  five  daughters.  All  but 
three  of  the  family  are  still  liviug.  They  are  as 
follows:  Edward  $.;  James  T.;  George;  Herbert H.; 
Margaret  T.,  wife  of  C.  F.  Kesson,  of  Morgan  ton; 
Lucy  W.,  wife  of  Rev.  Nielson  Falls,  of  Washing- 
ton, D.  C.;  Martha  M.,  now  Mrs.  C.  S.  Smith,  of 
Morgan  ton;  and  Florence  L.,  wife  of  John  H. 
Pierson.  also  of  the  same  place. 

Dr.  Walton  grew  to  mature  years  in  his  native 
17 


town  and  received  a  superior  education  at  David- 
son College,  Mecklenburgh  County, N.  C.  Heat- 
tended  the  New  York  University  afterward,  and 
was  graduated  from  the  medical  department  in 
the  Class  of  '73.  He  began  the  practice  of  his 
profession  at  once  in  the  eastern  part  of  his  native 
State,  being  for  one  year  located  in  the  village  of 
Stantonsburg.  Believing  that  the  West  afforded 
better  opportunities  for  a  young  professional  man, 
he  removed  to  Illinois  in  February,  1875,  since 
which  time  he  has  been  situated  in  Clarksdale, 
where  he  has  built  up  a  large  and  remunerative 
practice.  He  owns  a  good  home  property  and  a 
store  building  in  this  village,  and  is  one  of  her 
public-spirited  citizens. 

On  the  26th  of  September,  1876,  the  Doctor  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Mrs.  Annie  Johnson, 
widow  of  James  Johnson,  and  a  daughter  of 
John  and  Teresa  Shehan.  Three  children  have 
come  to  bless  their  home:  Loretta,  who  died  in 
infancy;  Thomas  George  and  Ellen  Teresa.  Mrs. 
Walton  is  a  member  of  the  Catholic  Church,  is  a 
lady  of  good  education,  and  presides  over  her 
husband's  home  with  genial  grace  and  hospitality. 

In  his  social  relations,  the  Doctor  is  a  member 
of  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America.  He  ad- 
heres to  the  principles  of  the  Democratic  party 
and  supports  its  candidates  with  his  ballot.  For 
two  terms  he  held  the  office  of  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  making  an  efficient  and  trustworthy  officer. 


>ILLIAM  EDGAR  MORRISON  is  a  promi- 
nent attorney  of  Morrisonville  and  comes 
from  a  pioneer  family  of  this  State.  His 
grandfather,  Robert  Morrison,  came  West  about 
1792,  settling  in  Kaskaskia,  111.,  where  he  became 
a  leader  in  commercial  enterprises  and  one  of  the 
influential  men  of  the  times.  Our  subject's  fa- 
ther, James  L.  D.  Morrison,  was  born  in  Kaskaskia, 
April  12,  1818.  He  was  also  a  lawyer,  and  was 
actively  engaged  in  practice  at  Belleville,  111.,  and 
St.  Louis  for  many  years,  his  specialty  being  real- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


estate  titles.  He  was  u  prominent  man  and  was 
one  of  the  principal  supporters  of  Stephen  A. 
Douglas  in  the  West,  but  after  the  defeat  of  that 
statesman  for  the  Presidency  in  1860,  he  aban- 
doned his  political  career. 

During  the  Mexican  War,  the  father  of  our  sub- 
ject was  a  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  Second 
Regiment,  and  was  .in  command  of  the  regiment 
at  Buena  Vista.  His  services  were  fittingly  recog- 
nized on  his  return  from  the  war  by  the  Legisla- 
ture of  Illinois,  which  presented  him  with  a  sword 
suitably  inscribed.  He  succeeded  Lyman  Trum- 
bull  as  a  member  of  Congress  when  the  latter  was 
elected  to  the  Senate,  and  was  afterward  elected  to 
fill  the  full  term.  On  returning  from  Mexico,  he 
devoted  his  attention  to  his  law  practice  and  in- 
vestment in  lands. 

In  1842,  James  L.  D.  Morrison  wedded  Miss 
Mar}7  A.,  daughter  of  Ex-Governor  Thomas  A. 
Carlin.  The  lady  was  also  a  native  of  Illinois, 
and  by  her  marriage  became  the  mother  of  five 
children,  namely:  J.  L.  D.,  William  Edgar, Eugene 
M.,  Guy  R.  and  Mary  E.  Only  two  of  the  number 
are  now  living,  our  subject  and  his  sister,  who  is 
the  wife  of  Joseph  P.  Carr,  of  St.  Louis.  The 
parents  were  devoted  members  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.  The  father  died  in  St.  Louis, 
August  17,  1888,  and  his  wife  passed  away  many 
years  before,  on  the  llth  of  September,  1855.  Ex- 
Governor  Thomas  A.  Carfin,  our  subject's  maternal 
grandfather,  entered  land  in  Christian  County  in 
1852.  The  Wabash  Railroad  Company  named  the 
village  of  Morrisonville  in  honor  of  the  father 
of  our  subject. 

The  boyhood  of  our  subject  was  mainly  spent 
at  Belleville,  and  his  education  was  chiefly  ob- 
tained at  the  Christian  Brothers'  College  in  St. 
Louis.  He  was  only  sixteen  years  old  when,  in 
1862,  he  entered  the  United  States  navy  as  a  mid- 
shipman, his  first  service  being  on  board  the  good 
ship  "Constitution."  He  was  on  the  sea  for  about 
two  years,  when,  at  the  request  of  his  father,  who 
wished  him  to  enter  the  legal  profession,  he  re- 
signed from  the  navy,  February  16,  1866.  Return- 
ing to  Belleville,  he  entered  the  law  office  of 
Judge  William  II.  Snyder,  now  deceased.  At  the 
end  of  two  years  he  was  examined  by  a  committee 


appointed  by  the  Supreme  Court,  who  pronounced 
him  qualified  for  the  practice  of  the  legal  profes- 
sion. As  he  was  then  less  than  twenty-one  years 
of  age,  he  could  not  be  admitted  to  the  Bar  ac- 
cording to  the  law,  and  was  therefore  given  the 
oath  on  his  twenty-first  birthday,  April  13,  1867. 
The  succeeding  fall  he  embarked  in  practice  at 
Springfield  in  the  office  of  Stuart,  Edwards  & 
Brown,  and  afterward  in  that  of  McLernand, 
Broadwell  &  Springer.  He  remained  in  Spring- 
field until  May,  1871. 

Mr.  Morrison  has  always  taken  an  active  inter- 
est in  politics,  and  from  boyhood  has  been  a  stanch 
advocate  of  the  Democratic  party.  During  the 
campaign  of  1868,  in  which  Seymour  was  the  Dem- 
ocratic candidate  for  President  in  opposition  to 
Grant,  he  made  the  canvass  of  seven  counties  in 
this  State  at  the  request  of  the  State  Central  Com- 
mittee. He  inherited  a  talent  for  oratory,  and  his 
speeches  have  always  been  received  with  favor. 
In  this  part  of  the  State  Mr.  Morrison  has  been 
very  influential  in  shaping  the  policy  of  his  party. 
In  1876  he  received  the  Democratic  nomination 
for  Representative  to  the  Legislature,  and  was 
elected  by  a  majority  of  several  hundred  votes 
in  excess  of  that  received  by  the  general  ticket. 
On  taking  his  seat  he  was,  with  one  excep- 
tion, the  youngest  man  in  the  House.  He  was 
placed  on  the  Committee  on  Railroads,  and  took 
an  active  part  in  the  work  of  that  session.  The 
resolution  for  the  appropriation  of  850,000  for 
the  completion  of  the  Douglas  monument  was 
introduced  in  1877,  and  his  speech  in  favor  of  its 
acceptance,  and  in  answer  to  the  bitter  speech  of 
Mr.  Merritt,  was  greeted  with  tremendous  ap- 
plause, and  was  afterward  conceded  to  be  one  of 
the  finest  oratorical  efforts  ever  made  in  the 
House. 

October  20,  1869,  Mr.  Morrison  married  Miss 
Annie  C.  Perkins,  a  native  of  Springfield  and 
daughter  of  Joseph  Perkins,  an  old  resident  of 
Sangamon  County.  Her  death  occurred  March 
20,  1874,  and  she  left  one  child,  James  L.  D. 
Morrison,  Jr.,  who  is  now  at  the  University 
of  Michigan,  at  Ann  Arbor,  completing  his  law 
studies,  and  will  graduate  in  the  Class  of  '94. 
Our  subject,  having  gone  to  Iowa  in  1882,  was 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


353 


active  in  the  canvass  of  that  State  for  Cleveland, 
and  afterward  was  one  of  the  first  to  bring  Mr. 
Boies  into  prominence  as  the  Democratic  candi- 
date for  Governor  in  Iowa. 


JAMES  MONROE  SIMPSON,  one  of  the  old 
settlers  of  Christian   County,  has  been  for 
long   years    engaged    in    farming   in  Bear 
Creek    Township,  and   is   one  of  the  mos* 
substantial  and  prosperous  agriculturists  of  the  lo- 
cality.    He  is  especially  interested  in  stock-raising, 
and  introduced  the  first  thoroughbred  horse   into 
the   county.     He    has  handled  some  of  the  finest 
racehorses    in  America,   and    has  won  a  national 
reputation  in  that  line.    Many  of  the  business  con- 
cerns and  enterprises  of  Palmer  have  been  furth- 
ered by  the  influence  and  means  of  Mr.  Simpson, 
who  is  public-spirited  to  a  marked  degree. 

The  parents  of  our  subject  were  Thomas  and 
Caroline  (Badger)  Simpson.  The  former,  who  was 
born  in  Virginia,  was  a  son  of  Andrew  Simpson, 
also  of  the  Old  Dominion,  who  was  one  of  the 
early  settlers  of  Kentucky,  where  he  made  his 
home  for  many  years.  He  followed  agricultural 
pursuits  for  a  livelihood,  and  was  the  owner  of  a 
large  number  of  slaves.  In  1835  he  went  to 
Springfield,  111.,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
six  years.  His  family  consisted  of  six  daughters 
and  two  sons.  Mrs.  Simpson,  whose  birth  occurred 
in  Kentucky,  was  oneof  ten  children,  eight  daugh- 
ters and  two  sons,  whose  father  was  David  Badger. 
He  was  of  Scotch-Irish  descent,  born  in  Virginia 
in  1777, and  died  in  Indiana  in  1849.  He  followed 
the  life  of  a  farmer  and  was  a  man  of  considerable 
wealth.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  sixty-six 
years  of  age. 

The  family  of  Thomas  and  Caroline  Simpson 
consisted  of  two  daughters  and  four  sons,  namely: 
Andrew,  David,  James  M.,  Emily,  Mary  and  Ham- 
ilton. James  M.  is  the  only  survivor.  In  1835 
the  father  brought  his  family  to  Illinois,  spending 


his  first  winter  in  the  Prairie  State  in  Springfield. 
Afterward  he  settled  in  Mechanicsburg,  where  he 
made  his  home  until  1846.  He  then  removed  to 
this  county,  buying  a  farm  of  two  hundred  and 
sixty-two  acres  in  Bear  Creek  Township,  one  mile 
northeast  of  the  present  site  of  Palmer.  For  this 
property  lie  paid  $800  and  made  a  good  bargain, 
as  the  place  was  improved  and  had  a  good  house, 
barns  and  fences  upon  it.  At  that  time  it  was  the 
best-improved  farm  in  the  county.  The  owner 
afterward  extended  his  possessions,  until  at  the 
time  of  his  death  he  owned  four  hundred  and 
forty-four  acres.  One  tract  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  he  secured  by  paying  only  $125.  On 
this  farm  he  made  his  home  until  his  demise,  which 
occurred  in  December,  1856,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six 
years.  His  wife  died  in  1842,  and  was  buried  in 
Sangamon  County.  Mr.  Simpson  was  a  promi- 
nent Mason,  and  during  the  early  days  held  vari- 
ous township  offices,  both  in  Sangamon  and  Chris- 
tian Counties,  once  serving  as  County  Commis- 
sioner. 

The  birth  of  our  subject  occurred  near  Sharps-  . 
burg,  Ky.,  October  3,  1834,  and  he  was  just  a  year 
old  on  the  day  when  his  father  set  out  for  Illinois. 
He  was  a  lad  of  eleven  years  when  he  came  to  this 
county,  which  has  since  been  the  scene  of  his  life 
career.  Though  his  educational  advantages  were 
limited,  he  improved  what  opportunities  he  had, 
and  by  observation  and  study  has  become  a  well- 
informed  man.  In  1853  he  crossed  the  plains  to 
California,  taking  five  months  to  make  the  trip. 
For  the  succeeding  six  years  he  was  engaged  in 
mining  much  of  the  time,  but  also  raised,  bought 
and  sold  cattle  in  partnership  with  his  brother 
David.  In  December,  1858,  he  returned  to  his  old 
home,  which  he  inherited.  He  has  made  great  im- 
provements on  the  place  since  it  became  his,  and 
now  owns  one  thousand  acres.  For  the  property 
which  he  has  purchased  in  addition  to  the  old 
home  place,  he  has  paid  from  $1.25  to  $40  per  acre. 
His  place  he  has  turned  into  a  stock  farm,  and  he 
makes  a  specialty  of  breeding  fine  horses.  For  his 
first  thoroughbred  horse  he  paid  $1,025  when  he 
was  only  a  year  old.  At  the  present  time  there  are 
from  sixty  to  seventy  head  of  horses  on  the  farm. 
Mr.  Simpson  is  constantly  raising,  buying  and 


354 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


selling  high-grade  horses  and  has  made  a  decided 
success  of  the  business. 

A  marriage  ceremony  was  performed  on  the 
29th  of  March,  1860,  uniting  the  fortunes  of 
Mr.  Simpson  and  Miss  Margaret  Ricks,  who  is 
a  daughter  of  William  S.  and  Margaret  (Bond) 
Ricks,  natives  of  Christian  County,  Ky.  Of  the 
children  born  to  our  subject  and  his  wife,  An- 
drew, Nellie,  Eva  and  Katie  are  deceased.  Cyrus 
D.  married  Miss  Mary  Dietz  and  lives  near  the  old 
homestead.  Quintas  I.  married  Miss  Rosa  Miller, 
and  resides  near  Palmer.  Andrew  is  the  next  in 
order  of  birth.  Thomas  L.  married  Miss  Effie  May 
Chapel  and  lives  in  Oklahoma.  Jessie  P.,  Caroline, 
Eugene,  Emma  and  Hamilton  complete  the  family. 

In  politics, Mr.  Simpson  is  a  stanch  supporter  of 
the  Republican  party.  Besides  his  extensive  farm 
and  stock-raising  interests  he  is  a  partner  in  the 
firm  of  Simpson  &  Boyd,  dealers  in  hardware,  ag- 
ricultural implements  and  furniture  in  Palmer. 


JAMES  PARKER  WALKER,  who  after  a 
successful  career  is  now  living  a  retired 
life  in  Taylorville,  was  born  near  Almira, 
in  Tioga  County,  N.  Y.,  July  23,  1828,  and 
is  a  son  of  Daniel  E.  and  Rachel  (Miller)  Walker, 
the  former  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  and  the  latter 
of  Pennsylvania.  In  1835,  the  family  removed 
to  Champaign  County,  Ohio,  and  in  1839  came  to 
Illinois,  locating  in  Springfield.  The  father  was 
a  farmer  and  stock-raiser.  In  1847  he  came  with 
his  family  to  Christian  County,  and  settled  in 
Greenwood  Township,  where  he  secured  eight 
hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  land,  of  which  only- 
sixty  acres  had  been  improved,  paying  $1.25,  $5 
and  $10  per  acre.  He  also  obtained  a  part  of  it  on 
land  warrants,  and  the  cost  of  that  was  about 
ninety-two  cents  per  acre.  Here  he  carried  on 
farming  until  1862,  when  he  went  to  Montgomery- 
County,  and  there  carried  on  agricultural  pursuits. 
His  death  occurred  February  14,  1882,  in  his 
eighty-third  year.  He  had  improved  the  greater 


part  of  his  land,  was  an  extensive  farmer,  and  be- 
came quite  wealthy.  P\>r  a  number  of  years  before 
his  death  he  lived  retired.  His  wife  passed  away 
in  1872,  at  the  age  of  seventy-six  years.  Their 
family  numbered  eight  children,  five  of  whom  are 
now  living.  Charlotte,  widow  of  George  Comp- 
ton,  is  living  in  Christian  County;  two  members 
of  the  family  reside  in  Montgomery  County;  and 
one  brother  is  living  in  Texas. 

The  first  seven  years  of  his  life  our  subject 
spent  in  the  State  of  his  nativity,  and  then  accom- 
panied his  parents  to  Ohio.  He  was  a  lad  of 
eleven  years  at  the  time  of  the  removal  to  Illinois. 
Upon  the  home  farm  he  remained,  and  to  his  fa- 
ther gave  the  benefit  of  his  services,  until  nine- 
teen years  of  age,  when  he  left  the  parental  roof, 
and  became  overseer  on  a  farm  six  miles  south  of 
Springfield,  receiving  from  $12  to  $20  per  month 
|  for  his  services.  In  connection  with  his  brother 
William,  he  then  began  improving  Congress  land, 
as  he  had  not  enough  money  to  enter  land  from 
the  Government.  He  soon,  however,  managed  to 
purchase  a  land  warrant  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  for  $150,  and  thus  secured  a  farm.  Upon  it 
he  built  a  cabin  and  with  his  brother  kept  "bach- 
elors' hall."  They  lived  in  primitive  style  in  this 
rude  and  hastily  constructed  log  cabin,  their  table 
being  a  dry-goods  box,  and  their  chairs  rude 
benches.  They  did  their  cooking  at  a  fire  place. 

He  again  entered  land,  in  1851  and  1852,  in 
Johnson  and  Greenwood  Townships,  and  de- 
voted his  energies  to  its  cultivation  during  the 
summer  months,  and  also  engaged  in  breaking 
prairie  for  $2.50  per  acre,  his  team  being  made  up 
of  five  yoke  of  oxen.  In  winter  he  would  pur- 
chase hogs  and  drive  them  to  the  St.  Louis  market. 
In  this  way  he  secured  money  with  which  he  pur- 
chased land  warrants,  and  in  time  he  and  his 
brother  became  owners  of  six  hundred  acres. 

On  the  14th  of  March,  1854,  Mr.  Walker  wedded 
Nancy,  daughter  of  John  and  Margaret  (Randall) 
Bowman,  who  had  settled  in  Johnson  Township 
in  1852.  Unto  them  were  born  two  sons:  Joshua 
Bowman,  who  is  book-keeper  for  the  First  Na- 
tional Bank,  of  Taylorville;  and  Charles  Henry, 
who  is  at  the  head  of  a  large  publishing  house  in 
Houston,  Tex. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


355 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walker  began  their  domestic  life 
upon  the  farm,  the  young  husband  devoting  him- 
self to  the  improvement  of  his  land,  while  the 
wife  cared  for  the  household.  He  grew  corn,  wheat 
and  oats  exclusively  for  a  few  years,  and  then  be- 
gan feeding  and  shipping  cattle  and  hogs,  which 
business  he  carried  on  until  1870.  During  the 
three  last  years  of  the  war,  especially,  he  had  an 
extensive  and  profitable  trade  in  that  line.  In 
1870,  he  left  his  farm,  removing  to  Pana,  where 
for  three  years  he  engaged  in  the  grocery  business 
under  the  firm  name  of  Walker  &  Vandever. 
They  had  two  stores  in  that  place  and  did  an  ex- 
tensive business.  After  disposing  of  his  interest, 
Mr.  Walker  engaged  in  stock-dealing  for  two 
years  in  connection  with  Messrs.  Miller  &  Abel, 
owning  two  farms  near  Pana.  He  then  embarked 
in  the  dry-goods  business  with  his  old  partner  of 
the  grocery  trade.  They  carried  a  stock  of  $23,- 
000,  and  from  the  beginning  they  enjoyed  a  lib- 
eral patronage,  which  yielded  them  excellent  re- 
turns. Again  he  sold  out  after  three  years,  and 
for  two  years  dealt  in  stock  with  his  former  part- 
ners, Messrs.  Miller  and  Abel.  In  1881  he  began 
dealing  in  real  estate.  The  following  year  he  dis- 
posed of  all  his  businss  interests  in  Pana,  includ- 
ing a  bank,  with  which  he  had  been  associated 
and  which  had  proven  quite  a  successful  venture, 
and  came  to  Taylorville,  where  a  year  later  he 
opened  a  grocery  store,  which  he  carried  on  for 
three  years,  his  sou  Joshua  being  his  partner. 
The  firm  of  Walker  &  Son  also  carried  on  a  mar- 
ble-yard for  eighteen  months.  To  quite  an  ex- 
tent our  subject  has  dealt  in  real  estate  all  along 
his  business  life,  and  he  still  owns  three  hundred 
acres  of  land,  a  part  of  which  he  had  entered  from 
the  Government  at  a  cost  of  about  ninety-two 
cents  per  acre.  He  holds  the  reputation  of  a  care- 
ful, shrewd  financier,  and  no  man  in  the  county 
stands  higher  among  business  associates. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Walker  and  his  sons  are  Demo- 
crats. For  forty-three  years  he  has  been  a  faithful 
and  consistent  member  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  and  has  served  as  Trustee  and  in  oth- 
er official  positions.  He  has  been  active  in  raising 
money  for  the  building  of  a  new  church  in  Tay- 
lorville, and  does  all  in  his  power  for  the  cause  of 


Christianity.  The  cause  of  temperance  finds  in 
him  a  true  friend,  and  socially  he  is  connected 
with  the  Masonic  fraternity  and  the  Ancient  Or- 
der of  United  Workmen.  Mr.  Walker  may  truly 
be  called  a  self-made  man,  for  he  started  out  in 
life  without  a  cent,  and  all  that  he  has  acquired 
has  been  gained  through  his  own  efforts.  He  car- 
ries forward  to  a  successful  completion  whatever 
he  undertakes,  and  his  prosperity  is  the  just  reward 
of  his  labors.  He  is  numbered  among  Christian 
County's  representative  and  honored  citizens. 


•ILLIAM  GRIMES,  a  farmer  residing  on 
section  30,  Rosemond  Township,  claims 
Maryland  as  the  State  of  his  nativity.  He 
was  born  in  Baltimore  County,  seven  miles  east  of 
the  city  of  Baltimore,  January  30,  1811.  His  fa- 
ther, Nicholas  Grimes,  was  born  in  the  same  State, 
was  of  English  descent,  and  was  a  farmer  by  occu- 
pation. He  married  Keziah  Rolland,  who  was 
born  in  the  same  State  and  is  of  German  lineage. 

Our  subject,  who  is  their  eldest  child,  was  reared 
in  the  county  of  his  nativity  until  seventeen  years 
old.  He  then  began  learning  the  blacksmith's  trade, 
at  which  lie  served  a  three-years  apprenticeship, 
and  then  worked  at  that  business  in  Pittsburgh, 
Cincinnati  and  Mississippi.  In  1835  he  came  to  111- 
nois,  locating  in  Macoupin  County,  where  he  suc- 
cessfully followed  his  chosen  occupation  for  some 
years,  and  later  engaged  in  farming  until  his  re- 
moval to  Christian  County,  in  1873.  Since  then  he 
has  devoted  his  time  to  farming,  and  he  now  owns 
eight  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  valuable  land  in 
the  home  farm  in  Rosemond  Township,  besides 
other  tracts  elsewhere  in  the  county. 

In  1837  Mr.  Grimes  was  married  to  Nancy  Wag- 
ner, a  native  of  Madison  County,  111.,  who  died 
many  years  ago,  leaving  three  children,  a  son  and 
two  daughters:  Elizabeth  K.,  wife  of  F.  M.  Adams, 
of  Macoupin  County;  Mary  Ann,  widow  of  John 
Kessinger;  and  Stephen  N.,  who  now  operates  the 
home  farm. 


356 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Mr.  Grimes  cast  his  first  Presidential  vote  for 
Andrew  Jackson,  and  has  since  been  a  supporter 
of  the  Democracy,  the  principles  of  which  he 
warmly  advocates.  He  was  once  a  member  of  the 
Blacksmiths'  and  Mechanics'  Society,  of  Balti- 
more, Md.  All  that  he  has  he  has  made  by  his 
own  efforts,  and  he  may  truly  be  called  a  self-made 
man.  When  he  became  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers 
of  Macoupin  County,  111.,  he  was  in  quite  limited 
circumstances,  having  nothing  to  depend  upon 
but  his  own  exertions.  He  has  led  an  industri- 
ous, busy  and  useful  life,  and  as  the  result  of  his 
labors,  good  management  and  business  ability  he 
has  risen  to  a  position  of  wealth  and  affluence. 
He  is  one  of  the  largest  land-holders  of  Christian 
County,  his  possessions  aggregating  some  two 
thousand  acres  in  Christian,  Montgomery  and 
Macoupin  Counties.  His  children  now  manage 
part  of  his  land  and  the  remainder  is  rented.  Mr. 
Grimes  is  now  practically  living  a  retired  life,  and 
his  rest  is  certainly  well  earned  after  the  years  of 
arduous  toil  which  have  preceded  it.  His  exam- 
ple may  well  serve  to  encourage  others  who  like 
himself  have  been  dependent  upon  their  own  ex- 
ertions from  an  early  age.  Success  is  not  the  result 
of  chance,  but  is  the  reward  of  labor  and  may 
come  to  all. 


(ANIEL  K.  CORNELL,  M.  D.,  has  been 
continuously  engaged  in  the  practice  of 
the  medical  profession  in  Taylorville  since 
the  spring  of  1877,  and  is  recognized  as 
one  of  the  leading  and  successful  practitioners  of 
the  county,  his  ability  being  attested  by  the  liberal 
patronage  which  he  receives.  The  Doctor  comes 
from  the  far  East.  He  was  born  in  Providence,  R. 
I.,  on  the  18th  of  January,  1840,  and  the  Cornell 
family  traces  its  ancestors  back  two  hundred  years. 
His  parents,  Serril  and  Eliza  (Hopkins)  Cornell, 
were  also  natives  of  Rhode  Island,  and  the  mother 
was  a  direct  descendant  of  Stephen  Hopkins,  one 


of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
In  1858  the  family  came  to  Illinois,  locating  in 
Bloomington,  and  two  years  later  removed  to  Cen- 
tralia,  where  the  mother  is  still  living,  at  the  ad- 
vanced age  of  eighty-three  years.  The  father,  who 
was  born  in  1812,  was  called  to  his  final  rest  No- 
vember 23,  1889.  He  was  a  tanner  by  trade,  and 
established  a  tannery  in  Centralia.  Almost  up  to 
the  day  of  lus  death  he  carried  on  business,  his 
last  illness  covering  only  a  week. 

In  the  city  of  his  birth,  Dr.  Cornell  spent  the 
days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth,  and  at  the  age  of 
eighteen  was  graduated  from  the  High  School  of 
Providence.  He  then  came  with  his  parents  to 
the  West,  and  at  the  age  of  nineteen  began  teach- 
ing, following  that  profession  through  the  winter 
season.  His  choice  of  a  life  work  falling  upon  the 
practice  of  medicine,  he  began  reading  in  the 
office  of  Dr.  D.  H.  McCord,  in  Centralia,  111.,  and 
subsequently,  in  order  to  further  perfect  himself, 
entered  the  St.  Louis  Medical  College,  from  which 
institution  he  was  graduated  in  1866,  with  the  de- 
gree of  M.  D.  In  October,  1861,  he  had  enlisted 
in  the  late  war  as  a  musician  in  the  Twenty-sev- 
enth Illinois  Infantry,  becoming  cornetist  in  the 
band  of  that  regiment,  but  as  the  full  number  of 
musicians  was  not  secured,  he  was  discharged,  af- 
ter being  stationed  at  Cairo  for  three  months. 

Dr.  Cornell  began  practice  in  Centralia,  as  a 
partner  of  Dr.  McCord,  his  old  preceptor,  and  for 
three  years  the  connection  was  continued.  He 
then  removed  to  St.  Anne,  Kankakec  County,  111., 
where  he  spent  the  succeeding  seven  years  of  his 
life,  after  which  he  came  to  Taylorville.  Dr.  Kitz- 
miller  and  Dr.  Fiery  are  the  only  physicians  now 
in  practice  who  were  here  on  his  arrival.  Having 
ever  been  a  close  student  of  his  profession,  the 
Doctor  is  abreast  with  all  the  discoveries  and  theo- 
ries connected  with  the  science,  and  his  skill  and 
ability  have  gained  him  an  excellent  reputation. 
On  coming  to  Taylorville,  lie  was  made  surgeon 
of  the  Ohio  <fe  Mississippi  Railroad  Company,  and 
served  as  such  until  the  1st  of  January,  1893. 

On  the  llth  of  June,  1870,  in  Centralia,  Dr. 
Cornell  and  Miss  Mary  Hay  were  married.  The 
lady  is  a  native  of  Illinois.  By  their  union  were 
born  three  children.  Lynn,  who  studied  dentistry 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


857 


with  Dr.  Bonbrake,  was  graduated  from  the  Illi- 
nois College  at  Jacksonville  in  1892,  with  the  de- 
gree of  B.  A.  He  has  spent  the  summer  of  1893 
as  express  messenger  on  the  Northern  Pac-ific  Rail- 
road, but  in  the  autumn  he  expects  to  enter  the 
Cincinnati  Dental  College.  Margaret  is  now  a 
student  of  elocution  in  St.  Paul,  Minn.;  and  Cora 
is  still  at  home. 

For  some  years  the  Doctor  has  been  a  member 
of  the  Board  of  Health,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
Central  District  Medical  Society.  He  also  belongs 
to  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  and  he  and 
his  wife  hold  membership  with  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  in  which  he  serves  as  Elder.  He  has 
taken  a  prominent  part  in  church  work,  contributes 
liberally  to  its  support,  and  has  done  much  for  its 
upbuilding.  Few  men  are  more  widely  known  in 
Christian  County  than  the  Doctor,  and  he  has  a 
host  of  friends  among  all  classes  of  people. 


eYRUS  RAYHILL,  who  is  numbered  among 
the  early  settlers  of  the  county,  where  he 
has  lived  since  1864,  now  resides  on  sec- 
tion 22,  Pana  Township.  With  the  agricultural 
interests  of  the  community  he  was  identified  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  but  is  now  living  retired  in 
the  enjoyment  of  the  fruits  of  his  former  toil.  He 
was  born  in  Washington  County,  Ind.,  near  New 
Philadelphia,  April  24,  1835,  and  is  a  son  of  John 
and  Elizabeth  (Cathcart)  Rayhill.  The  paternal 
grandfather  was  a  native  of  Virginia.  The  father 
was  born  in  Botetourt  County,  Va.,  in  1810,  and 
at  the  age  of  six  years  accompanied  -his  parents  on 
their  removal  to  Washington  County,  Ind.,  where 
he  was  reared  to  manhood.  He  there  married  Miss 
Cathcart,  who  was  born  fifty  miles  from  Charles- 
ton, S.  C.,  February  4,  1814.  Her  father,  Hugh 
Cathcart,  was  a  native  of  the  same  State,  and  was 
of  Irish  descent.  Their  marriage  was  celebrated 
December  16,  1831,  and  they  began  their  domestic 
life  near  New  Philadelphia,  where  Mr.  Rayhill  fol- 
lowed farming,  though  he  was  a  tanner  by  trade.  In 


1864,  he  came  direct  to  Christian  County,  111.,  and 
located  upon  a  farm  in  Pana  Township,  where  he 
spent  his  remaining  days,  dying  in  1883.  His 
widow  still  survives  him. 

The  Rayhill'  family  numbered  teu  children: 
Catherine  S.,  now  the  wife  of  Harry  C.  Johnson; 
Cyrus,  of  this  sketch;  Alexander,  of  Davis  County, 
Ind.;  Henrietta,  now  deceased;  Elizabeth,  widow 
of  John  Snyder;  John,  of  Pana  Township;  Sarah 
Jane,  wife  of  C.  Yount,  of  Pana;  Carrie  L.  C.,  wife 
of  William  Hoj'le,  of  Pana;  and  two  children  who 
died  in  infancy. 

Mr.  Rayhill  of  this  sketch,  who  is  the  eldest  son, 
was  reared  in  the  county  of  his  nativity  and  early 
became  familiar  with  the  tanning  business,  working 
in  hi*  father's  tanyard.  He  was  trained  to  habits  of 
industry  and  usefulness  and  through  his  labors  in 
early  life  developed  self-reliance  and  force  of  char- 
acter which  have  proven  of  much  benefit  to  him  in 
his  later  years.  On  attaining  to  man's  estate,  he  left 
home  and  in  1860  was  joined  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Hannah  E.  Wilson,  a  native  of  Indiana.  Eight  chil- 
dren were  born  unto  them,  namely:  John  M.,  de- 
ceased; Maria  E.,  wife  of  A.  A.  Austin,  of  Pana 
Township;  James  A.,  of  Pana  Township;  C.  W., 
who  is  employed  as  a  salesman  in  Chicago;  Joseph 
C.  and  David  R.,  both  of  whom  reside  in  Pana 
Township;  one  child  who  died  in  infancy;  and 
Sarah  A.  who  died  at  the  age  of  fourteen  years. 
Mrs.  Rayhill  died  at  her  home  in  Pana  Town- 
ship, August  16,  1878,  at  the  age  of  forty-four 
years,  and  her  remains  were  interred  in  the  West 
Cemetery,  of  Pana. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rayhill  began  their  domestic  life 
in  Washington  County,  Ind.,  but  in  1862,  he  left 
home  to  enter  the  service  of  his  country  as  a 
member  of  Company  B,  Sixteenth  Indiana  Infan- 
try. He  aided  in  raising  his  company  and  was 
elected  First  Lieutenant.  During  his  first  battle, 
at  Richmond,  Ky.,  he  was  wounded  by  a  piece  of 
shell,  which  passed  through  the  lower  part  of  his 
left  arm.  This  disabled  him  for  further  duty,  and 
in  1863  he  was  honorably  discharged. 

Mr.  Rayhill  at  once  returned  to  his  home  in 
Indiana,  and  in  1864  came  with  his  family  to 
Christian  County,  111.  Locating  on  a  farm  in 
Pana  Township,  he  has  since  here  made  his  home, 


358 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD 


and  to  its  cultivation  he  gave  his  time  and  atten- 
tion until  the  year  1887,  but  since  then  has  lived 
retired.  Under  his  arduous  labors  acre  after  acre 
was  placed  under  the  plow,  until  waving  fields  of 
grain  took  the  place  of  the  once  barren  tract,  and 
the  farm  became  a  valuable  and  desirable  place. 
Our  subject  has  led  a  useful  and  busy  life  and  has 
now  a  handsome  competence,  which  surrounds  him 
with  many  comforts  and  luxuries.  He  keeps  up 
his  army  acquaintance  through  his  relations  with 
Pope  Post  No.  411,  G.  A.  R.,  of  which  he  is  a 
charter  member.  He  also  belongs  to  Adair  Lodge, 
No.  334,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  and  is  a  demitted  Mason. 
In  politics,  he  is  a  supporter  of  the  Republican 
party,  and  at  one  time  served  as  Assistant  Super- 


eHRISTIAN  WENZLER,  who  is  engaged  in 
farming  on  section  35,  Bear  Creek  Town- 
ship, has  been  a  resident  of  Illinois  for 
about  forty  years.  It  is  now  over  two  decades 
since  he  cast  in  his  lot  with  the  citizens  of  Bear 
Creek  Township,  his  home  being  still  on  the  farm 
where  he  first  located.  He  has  accumulated  a  large 
properly  by  his  own  industiy  and  thriftiness,  and 
is  highly  esteemed  by  his  neighbors  and  friends. 
They  have  honored  him  a  number  of  times  by 
electing  him  to  fill  positions  of  trust,  and  their 
confidence  has  never  been  misplaced. 

Mr.  Wenzler  is  a  native  of  Germany,  having 
been  born  in  Wurtemberg,  December  20,  1831. 
He  is  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Monica  (Haller)  Wenz- 
ler, both  natives  of  Germany.  The  grandfather 
of  our  subject,  George  Wenzler,  was  a  cabinet- 
maker by  trade,  and  was  a  fine  musician.  He  was 
the  father  of  a  large  family,  and  lived  to  be  about 
fifty-five  years  of  age.  Mathias  Haller,  the  mater- 
nal grandfather,  was  celebrated  as  a  teacher,  and 
conducted  a  school  in  one  town  for  forty-seven 
years.  He  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-six  years. 

Joseph  Wenzler  was  also  a  wood-turner  and 
cabinet-maker  by  trade.  He  was  a  musician  in 
the  regular  standing  army  of  Germany,  and  died 


in  his  native  land  at  the  age  of  sixty  years.  His 
wife  died  some  years  previously.  They  were  both 
adherents  of  the  Catholic  faith.  Their  family 
comprised  eight  sons  and  four  daughters,  namely: 
Christian,  Paulina  (deceased),  Kate,  Mary  Ann 
(deceased),  Magdalene,  Bertha,  Mary,  Paulina  (de- 
ceased), Ludwig,  Stephen  (deceased),  John,  and 
one  who  died  in  infancy. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  in  his  youth  learned 
from  his  father  the  cabinet-maker's  and  wood- 
turner's trade,  and  followed  that  vocation  until 
twenty  .eight  years  old,  when  he  was  obliged  to 
abandon  it  on  account  of  failing  eyesight.  Be- 
lieving he  could  better  make  a  livelihood  in 
America,  he  left  his  native  land  in  1851,  and  for  a 
short  time,  as  he  did  not  know  what  other  means 
to  take,  continued  at  his  trade  in  Pike  County, 
Pa.  In  the  fall  of  1853  he  removed  to  Indiana, 
and  in  the  following  year  located  at  Springfield, 
111.,  where  he  worked  at  various  occupations  for 
the  following  six  years. 

Jn  1860,  Mr.  Wenzler  concluded  to  try  his 
hand  at  farming,  and  rented  a  farm  in  Pawnee 
Township,  Sangamon  County,  where  for  the  eleven 
years  succeeding  he  farmed  on  rented  land.  In 
1872,  he  came  to  Christian  County,  and  invested 
in  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Bear 
Creek  Township,  which  has  been  his  home  ever 
since.  To  his  original  purchase  he  has  since  added 
fifty  acres.  He  has  made  good  improvements 
upon  the  farm,  which  has  upon  it  substantial  build- 
ings and  is  one  of  the  most  fertile  and  best-culti- 
vated places  in  the  district. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Wenzler  was  celebrated 
July  19,  1860,  with  Miss  Hester  Ann  Staley, 
daughter  of  Thomas  and  Jane  (Fikes)  Staley. 
The  father,  who  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  was 
a  man  of  patriotic  impulses,  and  although  past  the 
usual  age  when  he  enlisted,  served  for  two  years 
as  a  soldier  in  the  late  war.  He  was  wounded  at 
the  battle  of  Pittsburg  Landing,  and  afterward 
died  of  his  injuries  at  Benton  Barracks,  near  St. 
Louis,  Mo.  His  father  before  him  was  also  a  pa- 
triot, being  in  the  service  during  the  War  of  1812. 
Nine  children  blessed  the  union  of  our  subject  and 
wife.  In  order  of  birth  they  are  as  follows:  Will- 
iam T.,  Louis  C.,  Joseph  E.,  Mary  Ann,  Ida  Belle, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


359 


Laura,  Ella,  Rosetta  L.,  and  one  who  died  in  in- 
fancy. They  are  deceased  with  the  exception  of 
Joseph,  Ida  Belle  and  Rosetta  L.  The  latter  is 
the  wife  of  John  L.  Corn,  and  has  one  daughter, 
Alice.  Their  home  is  now  in  Taylorville.  Mrs. 
Wenzler,  the  mother  of  these  children,  was  called 
from  this  life  in  1878.  She  was  a  consistent  mem- 
ber of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  was  a  lady  who 
was  greatly  beloved  by  all  who  had  the  pleasure 
of  her  acquaintance. 

Foi  a  number  of  years,  Mr.  Wenzler  served  in 
the  capacity  of  Commissioner  of  Highways.  He  is 
greatly  interested  in  educational  movements,  and 
served  for  several  years  as  School  Director,  and 
was  also  School  Trustee  for  one  year.  He  is  a 
Republican  in  politics,  and  religiously  holds  mem- 
bership with  the  German  Reformed  Church.  He 
is  greatly  esteemed  by  his  neighbors  and  friends, 
and  is  unquestionably  a  man  of  high  character 
and  unblemished  reputation. 


WILLIAM  W.  BAILEY,  one  of  the  early 
settlers  of  Illinois,  and  a  representative 
farmer,  residing  on  section  35,  Rosemond 
Township,  has  here  lived  since  1867.  His  farm 
comprises  two  hundred  acres  of  rich  land,  which 
was  but  slightly  improved  twenty-five  years  ago, 
but  which  he  has  transformed  into  rich  and  fertile 
fields.  The  little  house  which  was  upon  it  at  the 
time  of  his  purchase  has  been  replaced  by  a  sub- 
stantial and  tasty  farm  residence,  which  he  erected 
in  1882  at  a  cost  of  $4,000. 

The  owner  of  this  desirable  place  was  born 
in  Springfield,  Essex  County,  N.  J.,  June  21, 1812, 
and  is  a  son  of  David  W.  Bailey,  who  was  also  a 
native  of  New  Jersey.  The  grandfather,  Abram 
Bailey,  was  of  Welsh  descent.  When  a  young 
man,  David  Bailey  engaged  in  the  manufacture 
of  nails,  afterward  carried  on  a  shoeshop,  and  later 
operated  a  gristmill.  He  married  Elizabeth  Vree- 
land,  who  was  born  in  New  Jersey  and  was  of 


Dutch  descent.  Their  marriage  was  celebrated  in 
Essex  County,  and  there  they  spent  their  entire 
lives.  Unto  them  were  born  nine  children,  five 
sons  and  four  daughters,  of  whom  our  subject  is 
third  in  order  of  birth. 

W.  W.  Bailey  acquired  his  education  in  the  sub- 
scription schools  of  his  native  State,  and  at  the 
age  of  twenty  started  out  in  life  for  himself. 
Since  that  time  he  has  made  his  own  way  in  the 
world.  He  began  earning  a  livelihood  by  work- 
ing at  the  carpenter's  trade,  which  he  followed  for 
some  years.  In  1835  he  emigrated  to  Greene 
County,  111.,  and  aided  in  building  the  town  of 
Jerseyville.  During  his  residence  there  he  helped 
divide  Greene  and  Jersey  Counties  and  to  estab- 
lish Jerseyville  as  the  county  seat  of  the  latter. 
He  became  Trustee  of  the  town  and  was  one  of  its 
prominent  and  influential  citizens.  Some  of  the 
first  houses  erected  in  that  place  were  his  handi- 
work, many  of  its  important  buildings  were  put 
up  by  him,  and  he  was  largely  interested  in  prop- 
erty there  for  many  years. 

In  1843  Mr.  Bailey  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Mary  A.  Parker,  a  native  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  who 
removed  to  Jerseyville  when  a  little  child.  She 
died  in  1874.  Nine  children  had  been  born  to 
them:  John  C.,  who  served  as  Sergeant  during  the 
late  war  and  is  now  deceased;  Mary,  widow  of 
Rev.  C.  T.  Deering,  a  Congregational  minister; 
W.  W.,  who  served  as  one  of  the  boys  in  blue  and 
now  resides  in  Bates  City,  Mo.;  David  W.,  of 
Leadville,  Colo.;  Laura,  who  died  in  infancy; 
Laura  P.,  Lottie  I.  and  Charles  S.,  all  at  home; 
and  one  who  died  in  infancy. 

Mr.  Bailey  came  direct  to  Christian  County  in 
1867,  and  has  since  lived  upon  the  farm  which  is 
now  his  home.  In  politics,  he  has  always  been  a 
stalwart  Republican.  During  the  late  war  he  tried 
to  enter  the  army,  but  was  not  accepted  on  account 
of  his  age.  Although  he  has  always  taken  an  ac- 
tive part  in  political  affairs,  he  has  never  been  an 
office-seeker,  and  though  once  elected  Constable  he 
refused  to  serve.  He  was  made  a  Mason  in  Morn- 
ing Sun  Lodge  No.  47,  and  later  became  a  charter 
member  of  Darsey  Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  of  Jer- 
seyville. When  he  started  out  in  life  he  was  a 
poor  boy,  but  he  was  ambitious  and  industrious, 


360 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


and  he  determined  to  win  a  foremost  place  among 
those  with  whom  he  should  cast  his  lot.  To  this 
resolution  lie  steadily  adhered,  and  in  the  legiti- 
mate channels  of  business  through  well-directed 
efforts  and  perseverance  he  has  acquired  a  compe- 
tency which  places  him  among  Christian  Coun- 
ty's substantial  citizens. 


JOHN  RAYHILL,  who  is  engaged  in  general 
farming  on  section  1,  Pana  Township,  is  a 
native  of  the  Hoosier  State.  He  was  born 
in  Washington  County,  Ind.,  May  14, 1844, 
and  is  the  sixth  child  and  third  son  in  a  famil_y  of 
ten  children.  We  see  him  in  his  boyhood  spend- 
ing his  time  in  work  around  the  home  and  in  the 
fields,  or  else  engaged  in  the  sports  which  furnish 
entertainment  for  farmer  lads.  He  remained  un- 
der the  parental  roof  until  eighteen  years  of  age. 
when,  prompted  by  patriotic  impulses,  he  offered 
his  services  to  the  Government,  enlisting  as  a 
drummer  boy  in  Company  B,  Sixteenth  Indiana 
Infantry.  He  thus  served  for  one  year,  after 
which  he  was  made  Corporal.  He  participated  in 
twenty-six  regular  engagements,  and  for  forty- 
seven  days  aided  in  besieging  Vicksburg.  He  was 
also  in  the  siege  of  Jackson  seven  days,  and  took 
part  in  the  Red  River  expedition.  He  served  in 
the  mounted  infantry,  and  although  he  was  at  the 
front  in  so  man}' important  and  hotly-contested  en- 
gagements, he  was  never  wounded.  His  brother 
Cyrus,  however,  was  wounded  in  his  first  battle, 
and  entirely  disabled  for  further  duty.  When  the 
war  was  over  and  the  country  no  longer  needed 
his  services,  our  subject  was  honorably  discharged 
and  mustered  out  at  New  Orleans.  On  the  22d 
of  July,  1862,  he  went  into  camp,  and  on  the  22d 
of  July,  1865,  just  three  years  later,  he  arrived  in 
Pana. 

•  Mr.  Rayhill  at  once  embarked  in  farming  at  the 
place  of  his  present  residence.  He  was  married 
February  21,  1867,  the  lady  of  his  choice  being 
Mary  Brooks,  a  native  of  Kentucky,  who  came  to 


Illinois  when  a  maiden  of  seventeen  summers.  In 
early  life  she  was  left  an  orphan,  and  has  no 
recollection  of  her  parents.  Six  children  were 
born  of  this  union,  but  Alexander  died  at  the  age 
of  seven  years;  and  John  died  at  the  age  of  six- 
teen months.  Lillia  M.,  twenty  years  of  age;  Nel- 
lie B.,  aged  seventeen;  and  Frank  and  Fred,  twins, 
aged  ten,  are  still  with  their  parents. 

The  Republican  party  finds  in  Mr.  Rayhill  a 
stalwart  advocate.  He  has  been  honored  with  dif- 
ferent local  offices,  for  six  years  acceptably  filling 
the  position  of  Highway  Commissioner,  and  he  has 
also  served  as  School  Director,  to  the  satisfaction 
of  all  concerned.  Socially,  he  holds  membership 
with  Pope  Post  No.  411,  G.  A.  R.,  of  Pana.  He 
is  a  public-spirited  and  progressive  citizen,  and 
does  all  in  his  power  for  the  best  interests  of  the 
community,  but  his  time  and  attention  are  chiefly 
given  to  his  business  interests.  He  owns  a  half- 
interest  in  the  old  homestead  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  forty  acres,  and  in  connection  with  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  fields  ho  also  carries  on  stock-rais- 
ing. He  has  long  been  a  resident  of  this  commu- 
nity and  is  both  widely  and  favorably  known. 


JOHN  E.  NEELY  is  a  contractor  and  builder 
of   Pana.     He   has  made  his  home  in   this 
city    for    thirty-five    years,   and    has   been 
closely  identified  with  its  growth  and  prog- 
ress.    On  all  sides  may  be  seen  evidences  of  his 
handiwork,  for  many  of  the  business  houses  and 
residences  of  the  city  were  erected  under  his  su- 
pervision.   In  other  ways,  aside  from  his  business, 
he  has  also  aided  in  the  promotion  of  Pana's  best 
interests. 

A  native  of  Pennsylvania,  Mr.  Neely  was  born 
in  Chesapeake  County  March  19,  1828.  His  par- 
ents, William  and  Maria  (Hesseick)  Neely,  were 
also  natives  of  the  Keystone  State.  Of  their  fam- 
ily of  eleven  children,  numbering  six  sons  and 
five  daughters,  seven  are  yet  living:  Rachel  Ann, 
wife  of  Albert  Dil worth,  of  Pennsylvania;  Anna 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


361 


Maria,  widow  of  Philip  Hughes;  Emma  Jane,  wife 
of  Thomas  Wyun;  Sarah,  wife  of  S.  McAfee;  John 
E.,  William  and  Frank.  The  father  of  this  family 
was  a  Pennsylvania!!  farmer,  and  died  in  his  na- 
tive State  in  1873,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three. 
His  wife  had  passed  away  some  twenty  years  pre- 
vious, in  the  faith  of  the  Methodist  Church,  with 
which  she  held  membership.  Mr.  Neely  was  reared 
as  an  Episcopalian,  and  was  ever  a  great  student 
of  the  Bible.  The  family  is  of  Irish  origin,  hav- 
ing been  founded  in  America  by  James  Neely,  the 
grandfather  of  our  subject,  who  was  a  native  of 
the  Emerald  Isle.  The  maternal  grandfather, 
John  Hesseick,  was  an  agriculturist  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, his  native  State. 

In  taking  up  the  personal  history  of  our  subject, 
we  present  to  our  readers  the  life  record  of  one  of 
Pana's  influential  citizens.  His  boyhood  days 
were  quietly  passed  under  the  parental  roof,  where 
he  was  reared  to  habits  of  industry  and  useful- 
ness, and  in  the  public  schools  of  Chesapeake 
County  he  acquired  his  education.  Not  wishing 
to  devote  himself  to  agricultural  pursuits  through- 
out life,  when  a  young  man  he  learned  the  car- 
penter's trade,  which  he  has  followed  in  connec- 
tion with  the  undertaking  business  continuously 
since.  His  excellent  workmanship,  and  the  faith- 
fulness with  which  he  performs  his  part  of  a  con- 
tract, have  won  him  an  excellent  trade,  which  in 
turn  has  yielded  him  a  good  income. 

The  lady  who  now  bears  the  name  of  Mrs.  Nee- 
ly was  in  her  maidenhood  Mary  Ann  Mil  lard, 
daughter  of  Joseph  and  Maria  (Heatherly)  Mil- 
lard,  natives  of  Pennsylvania.  Five  children  were 
born  to  our  subject  and  his  wife,  but  Emma  Jane 
and  John  are  now  deceased.  The  three  still  liv- 
ing are  Ida,  William  M.  and  Hannah  Maria. 

In  his  political  affiliations,  Mr.  Neely  was  form, 
erly  a  Republican,  but  is  now  independent  in  pol- 
itics. His  wife  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church.  He  has  twice  served  on  the  City 
Council,  but  has  never  been  an  office-seeker  in  the 
popular  sense  of  the  term,  preferring  to  devote 
his  attention  to  business  interests.  As  his  finan- 
cial resources  have  increased,  he  has  made  judi- 
cious investments  in  real  estate,  and  now  owns 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  good  farming  land 


in  Missouri,  besides  his  home  and  other  city  prop- 
erty in  Pana.  He  is  a  public-spirited  and  pro- 
gressive man,  and  during  his  residence  here  of 
more  than  a  third  of  a  century  his  life  of  upright- 
ness has  won  him  warm  regard. 


ffi  YMAN  WILCOX,  who  carries  on  agricul- 
I  (fS)  tural  pursuits  on  sections  14  and  23,  Rose- 
/ILsi&i  mond  Township,  is  one  of  the  worthy  citi- 
zens that  New  York  has  furnished  to  Christian 
County.  He  was  born  in  Oneida  County,  near 
Utica,  and  is  one  of  eight  children,  three  sons  and 
five  daughters,  all  of  whom  grew  to  manhood  and 
womanhood.  The  father  of  this  family,  Charles 
Wilcox,  was  born  in  the  Empire  State,  was  of  Eng- 
lish descent,  and  was  a  machinist  by  trade.  He 
married  Harriet  Robinson,  a  native  of  Oneida 
County,  and  a  daughter  of  Nathan  Robinson,  who 
was  born  in  Connecticut,  of  English  parentage. 
His  occupation  was  that  of  farming.  After  their 
marriage,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wilcox  located  in  the 
town  of  Paris,  N.  Y.,  where  he  worked  as  a  ma- 
chinist. Subsequently  they  removed  to  Niagara 
Falls,  where  the  father  died  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
nine.  The  mother  passed  away  the  same  year. 

In  the  county  of  his  nativity,  Lyman  Wilcox 
spent  his  boyhood  and  youth,  and  at  the  early  age 
of  fourteen  years  began  to  make  his  own  way  in 
Hie  world,  so  that  he  is  now  a  self-made  man.  He 
commenced  learning  the  shoemaker's  trade,  serv- 
ing an  apprenticeship  of  six  years,  and  receiving 
on  an  average  $35  per  year.  Of  this  sum  he  re- 
quired $30  to  clothe  himself,  and  the  remaining  $5 
went  for  miscellaneous  expenses.  He  earned  his 
first  money  when  a  youth  of  eleven,  working  at 
six  and  a-fourth  cents  per  day  printing  calico  by 
hand.  When  he  had  learned  the  shoemaker's  trade, 
he  worked  as  a  journeyman  for  two  years,  and 
subsequently  started  in  business  for  himself  in 
Oriskany,  N.  Y.,  in  1833. 

During  his  residence  there,  Mr.  Wilcox  was  mar- 
ried, in  1835,  to  Sallie  Osborn,  a  native  of  Fair- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


field  County,  Conn.,  and  a  daughter  of  Daniel 
Osborn,  of  the  same  count}7.  Her  parents  died 
when  she  was  fourteen  years  of  age,  after  which 
she  went  to  Oneida  County,  N.  Y.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wilcox  removed  to  Verona,  N.  Y.,  where  he  en- 
gaged in  farming  until  1866,  when  he  came  to 
Christian  County  with  his  family,  taking  up  his 
residence  on  the  farm  which  is  now  his  home.  In 
1887  he  was  called  upon  to  mourn  the  loss  of  his 
wife,  who  died  on  the  8th  of  April,  the  fifty-sec- 
ond anniversary  of  their  marriage.  Four  chil- 
dren were  born  unto  them;.  Harriet  R.,  Catherine 
E.  and  Sarah,  who  died  in  childhood;  and  Will- 
iam, who  aids  his  father  in  the  cultivation  of  the 
home  farm.  The  latter  was  born  in  Oneida  County, 
N.  Y.,  and  married  Emma,  daughter  of  O.  M.  and 
Debby  Aurelia  (Hawley)  Hawkes.  They  have 
seven  children:  Charles  Arthur,  Clara  E.,  Mary 
O.  and  Martha  H.  (twins),  Herbert  R.,  Hattie  A. 
and  Ethel  M.  William  Wilcox  is  an  enterprising 
and  progressive  farmer. 

In  connection  with  his  son,  our  subject  owns 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  good  land,  and 
they  are  successfully  engaged  in  general  farming. 
During  the  late  war,  the  latter  entered  the  service 
of  his  country,  enlisting  in  1861  as  a  member  of 
the  Third  New  York  Cavalry.  After  his  previ- 
ous term  had  expired,  he  re-enlisted  in  the  same 
company  and  regiment  as  a  veteran,  and  remained 
in  the  service  throughout  the  entire  war.  He 
never  received  a  wound,  although  lie  participated 
in  many  hard-fought  battles.  He  was  promoted 
to  the  rank  of  Corporal.  He  is  now  a  member  of 
Pope  Post  No.  411,  G.  A.  R.,  of  Pana,  and  holds 
membership  with  the  Congregational  Church,  in 
which  he  is  now  serving  as  Trustee.  Mr.  Wilcox 
was  Chairman  of  the  first  Republican  convention 
held  in  the  Third  Assembly  District  of  Oneida 
County,  N.  Y.,  and  assisted  in  organizing  the 
party  there. 

Lyman  Wilcox  is  an  inflexible  adherent  of  Re- 
publican principles,  and  served  as  Highway  Com- 
missioner of  Rosemond  Township  for  three  years. 
He  belongs  to  the  Congregational  Church,  and  in 
church  work  takes  an  active  interest,  doing  all  in 
his  power  to  promote  the  cause.  At  various  in- 
tervals through  sixty  years  lie  was  Superintendent 


of  the  Sunday-school,  and  through  his  training  of 
the  3'oung  exerted  an  influence  for  good  which 
will  be  felt  long  after  he  has  passed  to  his  reward. 
He  is  a  stanch  advocate  of  temperance  principles 
and  never  uses  tobacco  or  intoxicants  in  any  form. 
His  life  has  been  a  true  and  upright  one,  devoted 
to  the  cause  of  the  Master,  and  full  of  kindly  and 
generous  deeds.  His  example  is  well  worth}'  of 
emulation,  for  it  will  never  lead  to  wrong. 


\lp^OBERT  WATT,  who  carries  on  general 
|W(  farming  on  section  9,  Rosemoud  Township, 
^\  is  numbered  among  the  honored  pioneers 
of  Christian  County,  his  residence  here, 
which  covers  a  period  of  forty-one  years,  dating 
from  1852.  He  has  therefore  been  an  eye-witness 
of  the  greater  part  of  the  growth  and  develop- 
ment of  the  county,  and  has  seen  the  transforma- 
tion which  has  changed  it  from  an  unbroken  and 
unsettled  tract  to  a  region  of  comfortable  homes, 
good  farms  and  flourishing  towns. 

Mr.  Watt  was  born  in  the  North  of  Ireland, 
March  22,  1833,  and  is  a  son  of  Robert  Watt, 
who  was  also  born  in  the  same  locality.  The  fa- 
ther was  a  flax  manufacturer  and  owned  two  mills. 
He  was  killed  in  one  of  his  mills  on  the  1st  of 
August,  1840.  His  wife,  who  was  in  her  maiden- 
hood Margaret  McNickal,  was  also  born  in  Ireland, 
and  never  left  that  land.  They  became  the  pa- 
rents of  five  children. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch,  who  is  the  second  in 
order  of  birth  and  the  eldest  son,  spent  the  first 
fourteen  years  of  his  life  on  the  Green  Isle  of 
Erin, and  then  crossed  the  broad  Atlantic  to  Amer- 
ica, lie  landed  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  and  in  that 
city  spent  the  five  succeeding  years  of  his  life, 
working  by  the  day  and  month  at  various  pur- 
suits whereby  he  might  earn  an  honest  living. 
Thinking  the  West  furnished  better  opportunities 
for  young  men  than  the  older  and  more  thickly- 
settled  States  of  the  East,  with  the  desire  of  bene- 
fiting his  financial  condition  he  came  to  Illinois 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


:KI3 


at  the  age  of  nineteen  years.  He  worked  by  the 
month  as  a  farm  hand  in  Christian  County  for 
some  years,  but  since  1872  has  resided  upon  the 
farm  which  is  now  his  home. 

In  1861  Mr.  Watt  wedded  Miss  Mary  Hines,  a 
native  of  Ireland.  Their  union  has  been  blessed 
with  a  family  of  five  children,  a  son  and  four 
daughters,  viz.:  Mary,  Eliza,  Maggie,  Josephine 
and  George  W.  The  family  have  a  pleasant  home 
in  the  midst  of  a  fine  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
forty  acres.  The  greater  part  of  this  land  is 
under  a  high  state  of  cultivation.  In  connection 
with  the  residence  there  are  good  barns  and 
other  necessary  outbuildings,  and  these  are  sur- 
rounded by  well-tilled  fields.  The  place  is  neat 
and  thrifty  in  appearance,  a  fact  which  indicates 
the  careful  supervision  of  the  owner.  Mr.  Watt 
is  recognized  as  one  of  the  representative  and 
progressive  agriculturists  of  the  community.  He 
possesses  the  sturdy  independence  and  force  of 
the  Irish  people,  and  has  therefore  won  success. 
He  has  always  borne  his  part  in  the  advancement 
and  upbuilding  of  the  county  in  which  he  has  so 
long  made  his  home,  and  well  deserves  represen- 
tation among  its  honored  pioneers. 


ri|^  ON.  CHARLES  A.  MANNERS,  of  Taylor- 
l|f)y  ville,  who  has  been  prominent  in  public  af- 
ubt:  fa'vs  'in  this  county,  is  an  example  of  the 
l|p  self-made  men  in  which  the  Northwestern 
States  abound.  A  native  of  New  Jersey,  he  was  born 
in  Somerset  County,  on  the  2d  of  August,  1827,  and 
is  a  son  of  John  S.  and  Penelope  (Stout)  Manners, 
who  were  also  born  in  the  same  State.  His  father 
was  a  farmer  in  moderate  but  comfortable  circum- 
stances. 

Our  subject  received  a  fair  common-school  edu- 
cation and  excellent  training  in  mathematics,  his 
preceptor  being  a  retired  sea-captain,  from  whom 
he  doubtless  imbibed  a  love  of  the  ocean,  for  after 
leaving  school  he  went  to  sea,  where  he  remained 


until  the  age  of  twenty-two  years,  commencing  as  a 
boy  before  the  mast  and  steadily  advancing  until 
he  had  attained  to  be  second  in  command  of  a 
merchant  trader.  In  this  service  he  made  several 
voyages  around  the  navigable  world,  but  at  length 
his  health  broke  down,  and  in  consequence  he  dis- 
continued nautical  pursuits.  In  1850,  at  the  age 
of  twenty-three  years,  the  scene  of  his  labors  was 
changed. 

At  that  time  Mr.  Manners  came  to  the  West,  lo- 
cating in  Christian  County,  111.,  where  he  still  re- 
sides. In  the  following  year  he  was  elected  County 
Surveyor,  which  position  he  filled  for  three  years. 
In  1855,  he  was  employed  by  the  United  States 
Survey  Department  to  fix  the  boundary  between  the 
States  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  and  he  continued 
on  the  public  surveys  of  the  latter  State  until  1860. 
In  that  year  he  returned  to  Illinois,  and  in  1862 
he  was  elected  Sheriff  of  Christian  County,  a  posi- 
tion which  he  filled  until  18C4,  since  which  time 
he  has  been  extensively  engaged  in  the  construction 
of  railroads,  being  one  of  the  largest  and  most  suc- 
cessful contractors  in  the  West.  He  built  a  section 
of  thirty-four  miles  of  the  Pana  <fe  Northwestern 
Railroad,  from  Pana  to  Rochester;  sixty  miles  of 
the  Toledo,  Wabash  &  Western,  from  Decatur  to 
Litchfield,  and  also  a  division  of  the  Vandalia  Line. 
He  aided  in  extending  the  Terre  Haute  and  Rich- 
mond Line  from  Terre  Haute  Westward  to  the  State 
line,  and  built  a  division  of  the  Springfield,  Gil- 
man  &  Clinton  Railroad,  and  the  Warren  Division 
of  the  Ashtabula,  Youngstown  &  Pittsburg  Rail- 
road. He  also  received  a  contract  for  the  Port- 
land Division  of  the  Cincinnati,  Richmond  &  Ft. 
Wayne  Railroad;  the  Indiana  &  Illinois  Central 
from  Decatur,  111.,  to  Montezuma,  Ind.;  and  the 
Cairo  Short  Line  from  New  Athens  to  Du  Quoin. 
Mr.  Manners  also  built  a  portion  of  the  Indianapo- 
lis <fe  St.  Louis  Road  between  Terre  Haute  and  In- 
dianapolis, and  in  connection  with  his  railroad 
work  he  has  been  engaged  in  various  other  enter- 
prises. It  is  his  custom  to  carry  forward  to  a  suc- 
cessful completion  whatever  he  undertakes,  and  in 
consequence  he  has  accumulated  a  competence. 

On  the  2d  of  October,  1861,  Mr.  Manners  was 
joined  in  wedlock  with  Miss  Elizabeth  A.  Long, 
daughter  of  the  late  Maj.  Thomas  Long,  of  Taylor- 


.KM 


i-ORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


ville,  and  their  union  has  been  blessed  with  two 
children,  a  son  and  daughter:  Tom  and  Frances 
C.  The  family  is  one  widely  and  favorably  known 
in  this  community,  and  the  parents  hold  an  envia- 
ble position  in  social  circles. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Manners  is  a  supporter  of  Dem- 
ocratic principles.  He  is  a  most  energetic  and  ac- 
tive business  man,  and  his  prosperity  in  life  is 
mainly  due  to  the  promptness  which  has  charac- 
terized all  his  transactions. 


JUDGE  ANDREW  SIMPSON  was  born  near 
Mt.  Sterling,  Ky.,  October  22,  1830,  and 
was  a  son  of  Thomas  and  Caroline  (Badger) 
Simpson,  also  natives  of  Kentucky.  His 
paternal  grandfather,  Andrew  Simpson,  was  born 
of  English  parentage.  He  reared  a  large  fam- 
ily of  two  sons  and  seven  daughters,  one  of 
whom,  Thomas,  became  the  father  of  the  Judge. 
He  was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  followed 
that  pursuit  in  his  native  State  until  1831,  when 
he  emigrated  to  Sangamon  County,  111.  About 
1848  he  came  to  Christian  Count3%  locating  on 
the  present  site  of  Palmer,  at  the  head  of  Bear 
Creek,  where  he  made  his  home  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  about  1853.  The  family  num- 
bered six  children,  four  sons  and  two  daughters, 
but  James  is  the  only  one  now  living. 

Andrew  Simpson  was  a  lad  of  nine  summers 
when  the  family  came  to  Illinois.  In  the  public 
schools  he  acquired  his  education,  and  upon  the 
home  farm  was  reared,  remaining  under  the  pa- 
rental roof  until  nineteen  years  of  age,  when  he  ac- 
cepted a  position  in  the  office  of  the  County  Clerk 
(then  Judge  William  Moore),  in  Taylorville.  It 
then  became  his  desire  to  enter  the  legal  profes- 
sion, and,  after  studying  for  some  time,  he  en- 
gaged in  practice  for  a  number  of  years.  His 
natural  and  acquired  ability  made  him  a  success- 
ful practitioner,  placed  him  in  the  front  ranks  of 
his  professional  brethren,  and  won  him  the  honor 
of  an  election  to  the  office  of  County  Judge, 


though  a  Republican  in  a  Democratic  County, 
which  position  he  creditably  filled  for  some  years. 
His  rulings  were  always  wise  and  just,  and  the 
attorneys  with  whom  he  was  associated  in  busi- 
ness always  held  him  in  the  highest  regard. 

The  Judge  was  twice  married.  He  wedded  Miss 
Eliza  Caldwell,  of  Mt.  Sterling,  Ky.,  who  died 
about  1861.  Soon  after  her  death  he  entered  the 
army  as  a  member  of  Company  H,  Fourteenth  Ill- 
inois Infantry,  which  company  he  had  himself 
raised  in  Taylorville,  and  of  which  he  was  elected 
Captain.  He  was  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Pitts- 
burg  Landing,  in  April,  1862,  and  on  the  4th  of 
October  following  resigned.  Returning  home,  he 
resumed  his  law  practice.  On  the  5th  of  August, 
1863,  he  was  again  married,  his  second  union 
being  with  Miss  Almeda  daughter  of  Dr.  Richard 
and  Mary  A.  (Fender)  Fulton,  the  former  a  na- 
tive of  Loudoun  County,  Va.,  and  the  latter  of 
Wayne  County,  Ind.  Her  paternal  grandfather, 
Elisha  W.  Fulton,  was  a  native  of  Virginia.  He 
died  at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years,  his  last 
days  being  spent  in  Putnam  County,  Ind.  The 
maternal  grandfather,  Henry  L.  Fender,  was  born 
in  North  Carolina,  and  was  a  farmer  by  occupa- 
tion and  a  soldier  in  1812.  He  died  in  Wayne 
County,  aged  eighty-three  years.  Richard  Ful- 
ton was  a  physician,  and  successfully  engaged 
in  the  practice  of  medicine  in  Wayne,  Union 
and  Putnam  Counties,  Ind.,  for  some  years.  After 
her  husband's  death,  he  made  his  home  with  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  Simpson,  until  called  to  his  final 
rest,  in  April,  1893,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five 
years.  His  wife  still  survives  him  and  is  now 
living  with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Simpson.  She  is 
a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  as 
was  her  husband. 

Unto  the  Judge  and  Mrs.  Simpson  were  born 
three  children,  a  son  and  two  daughters.  Cullen, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  seven  years;  Mary,  wife 
of  William  Scott,  a  shoe  dealer  of  Taylorville, 
by  whom  she  has  a  little  daughter,  Eleanor;  and 
Caroline,  an  accomplished  young  lady,  who  gradu- 
ated from  De  Pauw  University,  iu  Greencastle, 
Ind.,  in  the  Class  of  '91,  and  who  lives  at  home. 

Mr.  Simpson  was  a  stalwart  Republican  in  poli- 
tics. He  was  a  deep  thinker  and  a  logical  reasoner. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


365 


and  his  conclusions  were  reached  as  the  result  of 
earnest  and  careful  meditation.  He  was  firm  in 
support  of  what  lie  believed  to  be  right,  and 
neither  fear  nor  favor  could  change  his  purpose. 
In  his  business  dealings  he  was  very  success- 
ful, and  became  the  owner  of  nineteen  hundred 
and  forty  acres  of  land  in  Christian  County,  be- 
sides his  fine  residence  and  a  number  of  business 
houses  on  the  square  of  Taylorville.  He  was  a 
lover  of  fine  horses,  and  always  had  some  excel- 
lent specimens  of  the  noble  steed  in  his  stable. 
Possessing  many  excellencies  of  character,  he  gained 
many  warm  friends  and  won  their  high  regard. 
He  passed  away  March  10,  1883,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-three  years,  and  his  loss  was  widely  mourned. 
His  widow  is  still  living  in  the  home  which  he 
left  her,  and  she  shares  its  comforts  with  her 
mother.  She  is  a  faithful  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist Church,  and,  like  her  husband,  has  the  con- 
fidence and  respect  of  all. 


PR.  B.  GREENWOOD,  a  leading  physician  of 
Edinburgh,  has  long  made  his  home  in  this 
county,  dating  his  arrival  from  1865,  and 
well  deserves  representation  among  its  early  set- 
tlers. In  the  years  which  have  since  come  and  gone 
he  has  been  prominently  connected  with  the  growth 
and  upbuilding  of  the  community,  and  has  ever 
borne  his  part  in  the  work  of  public  improvement 
and  advancement.  He  was  born  in  Barren  County, 
Ky.,  September  29,  1810,  and  is  a  son  of  John 
Greenwood,  a  native  of  Virginia.  His  grandfa- 
ther, Dr.  Basil  Greenwood,  was  a  native  of  Eng- 
land, in  that  country  was  reared  and  married, 
and  then  emigrated  to  America,  taking  up  his 
residence  in  the  Old  Dominion. 

John  Greenwood  married  Triphena  Garrctson, 
who  was  born  in  Virginia,  of  Welsh  parentage, 
their  union  being  celebrated  in  Bowling  Green, 
Ky.,  where  they  resided  for  two  years.  Remov- 
ing to  St.  Louis  at  that  time,  they  spent  only  a 
few  months  in  the  West,  being  driven  out  by  the 


Indians.  They  then  went  back  to  Kentucky,  but 
afterward  went  to  lllinoistown,  near  St.  Louis. 
Again  they  were  driven  away  by  the  redmen,  and 
the  Doctor,  who  was  then  only  four  years  old,  was 
separated  from  his  parents.  lie  was  taken  by  the 
savages  and  lived  with  them  for  several  years,  and 
in  1819  he  was  taken  by  them  to  where  the  city 
of  Springfield  now  stands.  About  1824  he  was 
ransomed  by  the  Government,  and  remained  in 
the  Government  employ  for  several  years  as  an 
interpreter. 

In  1836  Dr.  Greenwood  engaged  with  the  firm  of 
Cope  &  Harpester,  drovers,  to  lead  the  lead-ox  from 
Springfield  to  Philadelphia,  Pa.  While  on  the  way 
his  employers  failed,  and  thus  he,  without  money  or 
friends,  was  left  to  work  his  way  back  as  he  might. 
After  three  months  he  again  reached  Springfield, 
where  he  began  serving  an  apprenticeship  to  the 
millwright  and  carpenter's  trade.  He  then  em- 
barked in  business  for  himself,  and  in  the  next 
few  years  built  mills  in  Iowa,  Illinois  and  Mis- 
souri. During  this  time  he  was  studying  medi- 
cine, and  was  graduated  from  the  old  Missouri 
Medical  Institute  in  1847.  Locating  in  Spring- 
field, he  there  remained  for  two  years,  when  he 
sold  out  and  went  with  an  emigrant  train  en- 
gaged in  exploration  under  Fremont. 

Returning  to  Springfield,  the  Doctor  was  there 
married,  November  15,  1849,  to  Eliza  A.  Town- 
send,  a  native  of  Cape  May,  N.  J.  In  1852  he 
joined  the  Illinois  &  California  Mutual  Insurance 
Company  for  a  trip  across  the  plains.  Return- 
ing in  the  fall  of  1856,  he  formed  a  partnership 
with  a  brother  physician  and  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  medicine.  The  war  came  on  and  his 
property  was  all  destroyed,  so  he  again  went  to 
Springfield  to  make  a  new  start.  On  the  14th  of 
February,  1865,  however,  he  came  to  Christian 
County,  locating  four  miles  from  his  present  office, 
for  the  town  of  Edinburgh  had  not  then  sprung 
into  existence.  In  connection  with  medical  prac- 
tice, he  conducted  a  general  store  and  a  grist  and 
saw  mill.  At  length  he  sold  out  and  removed  to 
Edinburgh,  establishing  the  first  store  in  the  place. 
He  assisted  in  starting  many  lines  of  business,  in 
fact  the  growth  and  success  of  the  town  are  due 
in  no  small  degree  to  his  labors.  At  his  own  ex- 


366 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


pense,  and  at  a  groat  cost,  he  sunk  the  first  coal 
shaft.  A  company  who  worked  the  mine  was 
afterward  incorporated  with  a  capital  stock  of 
$50,000,  and  the  Doctor  was  elected  President. 
This  company  is  now  known  as  the  Electric  Light, 
Coal  and  Tile  and  Brick  Company,  and  has  a  capi- 
tal stock  of  $150,000,  all  of  which  has  grown  out  of 
the  first  efforts  of  our  subject,  who  is  still  President 
of  the  company.  He  has  continuously  carried  on 
the  practice  of  medicine  with  good  success,  and 
has  been  connected  with  other  business  interests. 
Greenwood  Township  was  named  in  his  honor. 

Unto  the  Doctor  and  his  wife  have  been  born 
four  children:  Triphena  A.,  wife  of  Charles  Whit- 
mer,  of  Springfield;  Parthenia,  deceased;  John  R., 
assistant  superintendent  of  the  coal  shaft  of  Edin- 
burgh; Sarah  M.,  wife  of  Robert  H.  Poole;  and 
Julia  A.,  wife  of  Asa  H.  Culver,  now  of  Bates 
County,  Mo.  The  mother  of  this  family  died  in 
1885,  leaving  many  friends  to  mourn  her  loss. 

The  Doctor  was  a  Whig  in  early  life,  but  since 
the  organization  of  the  Republican  party  has  been 
one  of  its  stanch  supporters.  He  was  a  personal 
friend  of  Lincoln,  with  whom  he  worked  in  his 
early  years,  and  was  also  a  personal  friend  of 
Douglas.  Few  men  in  Christian  County  are  bet- 
ter known  than  Dr.  Greenwood,  on  account  of  his 
connection  with  its  upbuilding  and  development. 
He  may  well  be  called  one  of  the  founders  of 
Edinburgh.  His  life  has  been  a  well-spent  and  use- 
ful one,  and  has  been  quite  eventful.  Wherever 
he  has  gone  he  has  made  friends,  and  in  the  corn- 
in  unity  where  he  now  lives  he  is  alike  esteemed 
by  young  and  old,  rich  and  poor. 


OSES  HUTCHINS  is  the  owner  of  one  of 
Christian  County's  fine  farms.  He  resides 
on  section  22,  Rosemond  Township,  where 
he  has  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
valuable  land,  whereon  he  has  made  his  home  since 
1875.  In  all  its  appointments  the  place  is  com- 
plete and  may  well  be  numbered  among  the  model 


farms  of  the  community.  The  substantial  and 
pleasant  residence  was  erected  in  1875,  at  a  cost 
of  $2,000.  Good  barns  and  other  necessary  out- 
buildings stand  in  the  midst  of  well-tilled  fields, 
and  the  neat  and  thrifty  appearance  of  the  place 
indicates  the  careful  supervision  of  the  owner, 
who  is  both  practical  and  progressive. 

Mr.  Hutchins  was  born  in  Edwardsville,  Madi- 
son County,  111.,  on  the  10th  of  January,  1845, 
and  on  both  the  paternal  and  maternal  sides  is  of 
English  descent.  His  father,  William  Hutchins, 
was  born  in  St.  Mary's,  Md.,  April  20,  1802,  was 
there  reared  to  manhood,  and  wedded  Matilda 
Dorsey,  who  was  born  in  1808,  in  Calvert  County, 
Md.,  and  was  a  daughter  of  William  Dorsey,  of 
that  State.  They  located  on  a  farm  in  Maryland, 
and  in  1842  removed  to  Baltimore,  spending  two 
years  in  that  city.  In  1844  they  came  to  the 
West,  locating  in  Madison  County,  111.,  upon  a 
farm,  where  they  spent  their  remaining  days.  The 
father  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven,  and  his 
wife  passed  away  when  sixty-three  years  of  age. 
They  were  members  of  the  Cumberland  Presby- 
terian Church,  in  which  Mr.  Hutchins  served  as 
Elder  for  some  time.  In  politics,  he  was  first  a 
Whig,  and  afterward  a  Republican.  Their  family 
of  four  children  numbered  three  sons  and  a  daugh- 
ter, but  the  latter,  Susan,  died  at  the  age  of  nine 
years;  Daniel  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven; 
and  David  is  living  in  Madison  County,  111. 

Moses,  who  is  the  youngest  of  the  family,  was 
reared  in  the  county  of  his  nativity  until  twenty- 
three  years  of  age,  and  conned  his  lessons  in  the 
district  schools  of  the  neighborhood.  In  1869  he 
removed  to  this  county  and  took  up  his  residence 
on  section  20,  Rosemond  Township,  where  he  pur- 
chased a  farm,  to  which  he  devoted  his  time  and 
attention  until  1875.  He  then  purchased  and 
removed  to  the  farm  which  has  since  been  his 
home.  He  now  has  it  under  a-  high  state  of  cul- 
tivation, and  in  connection  with  its  improvement 
he  also  engages  quite  extensive^  in  stock-raising, 
making  a  specialty  of  cattle  and  hogs. 

In  1871  Mr.  Hutchins  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Sarah  J.  Estabrook,  a  native  of  Madison 
County,  111.,  and  a  daughter  of  John  and  Nancy 
Estabrook,  who  were  early  settlers  of  that  county, 


Fl«  Ubttrj 

«f  the 
v  of 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


369 


there  locating  in  1818,  at  which  time  the  father 
secured  the  land  from  the  Government  and  began 
the  development  of  a  home  on  the  frontier.  Of 
the  family  of  ten  children,  Mrs.  Hutch  ins  is  the 
youngest.  By  her  marriage  she  became  the  mother 
of  three  daughters:  Clara  May,  Emeline  Matilda 
and  Bessie  Estabrook,  all  at  home. 

As  his  financial  resources  have  increased,  Mr. 
Hutching  has  made  additional  purchases  of  land, 
until  he  ig  now  the  owner  of  eight  hundred  acres 
in  Christian  County,  all  acquired  through  his 
•good  management,  diligence  and  business  ability. 
In  politics  he  is  a  supporter  of  Republican  prin- 
ciples. He  holds  membership  with  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  of  Rosemond,  and  is  now  serving 
as  Trustee.  He  takes  an  active  part  in  church 
work,  and  gives  his  support  and  co-operation  to 
all  that  tends  to  promote  its  growth  and  insure  its 
upbuilding. 


ROUNTREE  ANDERSON.  In  the 
ifjj)  death  of  H.  R.  Anderson,  which  occurred 
vkJ?  September  5,  1890,  Taylorville  lost  one  of 
((jt)j  its  most  useful  and  enterprising  citizens. 
He  was  a  son  of  W.  W.  Anderson,  whose  biography 
will  be  found  on  another  page  of  this  work,  and 
was  born  in  Taylorville  April  30,  18G1.  His 
school  days  were  spent  at  Lake  Forest,  111.,  and  at 
the  Illinois  Wesleyan  University,  at  Bloomington, 
his  education  being  completed  at  the  latter  institu- 
tion in  1881.  Shortly  after  graduation,  he  en- 
tered the  banking  business  with  his  father,  under 
the  firm  name  of  W.  W.  Anderson  &  Co.,  and  he  de- 
voted his  great  energy,  talents  and  business  ability 
to  extending  the  popularity  of  that  enterprise. 
He  made  a  thorough  study  of  the  laws  relating  to 
banking  and  finance,  and  the  success  of  the  First 
National  Bank  of  Taylorville  is  principally7  due  to 
his  exceptional  capacity,  industry  and  faithfulness 
in  its  management.  Associated  with  his  father, 
he  was  the  prime  mover  in  its  organization,  and 
18 


occupied  the  responsible  position  of  cashier  until 
failing  health,  in  January,  1890,  compelled  him  to 
resign.  He  was  ambitious  and  energetic  to  a 
marked  degree,  and  his  name  was  a  synonym  for 
truth  and  honor.  With  qualities  such  as  these, 
his  prospects  for  fame  and  fortune  were  very 
brilliant,  but  his  spirit  was  too  strong  for  his  frail 
body,  and  in  early  manhood  he  perished  at  the 
threshhold  of  the  goal  he  hoped  to  win. 

The  following  extract  from  the  funeral  address^ 
made  by  one  who  was  privileged  to  know  him 
intimately,  Rev.  W.  A.  Smith,  pastor  of  Grace 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  of  Bloomington,  111., 
will  serve  to  show  his  character:  "Some  of  you 
were  acquainted  with  his  home  life,  and  knew 
how  pure,  true  and  devoted  he  was  to  his  own, 
within  the  sacred  precincts  of  home.  In  all  these 
relations,  he  was  an  honest,  honorable,  manly 
man.  He  was  a  man  who  had  a  mother,  a  real, 
true,  genuine  mother,  who  left  the  stamp  of  her 
goodness  and  refinement  on  the  heart  and  life  of 
her  son.  Through  all  his  years  on  earth,  he  car- 
ried the  impress  of  her  loving  touch,  and  felt  the 
inspiration  of  her  noble  life,  which  was  a  part  of 
that  deathless  life  beyond.  He  lived  largely 
within  himself  and  his  home,  mingling  only  with 
congenial  associates;  he  could  not  be  a  companion 
of  one  who  was  coarse  or  uncouth.  He  was  a  man 
of  principle,  of  high  aims  and  good  purposes,  and 
scorned  to  stoop  to  any  unmanly  act.  He  pos- 
sessed a  keen  mentality,  a  well-stored  mind,  a  re- 
tentive memory,  and  was  a  remarkable  conver- 
sationalist. He  took  an  active  and  intelligent  in- 
terest in  the  affairs  of  men,  and  in  men  of  affairs. 
He  was  a  wide  reader,  and  was  abreast  of  the  times 
in  the  advanced  thought  of  the  day.  He  delighted 
in  music,  and  was  himself  an  accomplished  musi- 
cian, was  a  lover  of  flowers,  appreciated  art  of  all 
kinds  and  the  beautiful  in  nature  wherever  found. 
Regarding  religious  matters,  he  was  somewhat  in- 
dependent in  his  thought,  but  liberal  in  the  best 
sense,  and  perfectly  sincere  and  conscientious  in 
his  views,  while  he  was  in  harmony  with  the 
orthodox  teaching  of  the  day  on  the  cardinal  and 
essential  facts  of  Christianity.  There  was  no  re- 
ligious cant  or  hypocrisy  about  him.  He  pinned 
his  faith  to  the  Bible  of  Christ  and  the  Christ  of 


370 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


the  Bible.  He  said:  'I  can  never  feel  anyway  but 
kindly  towards  my  mother's  church.'  Dying,  he 
pillowed  his  head  on  the  promises  that  supported 
her,  and  has  probably  already  met  that  mother 
and  greeted  her  in  Heaven,  for  in  his  last  hours  he 
had  victory,  through  his  Lord  and  Savior." 


LIENHART  is  proprietor  of  a 
wagon  factory  and  blacksmith  -and  paint 
shop  of  Taylorville.  The  record  of  his  life 
is  as  follows:  A  native  of  Alsace,  Germany,  he 
was  born  on  the  6th  of  May,  1834,  and  was  reared 
to  manhood  in  his  native  land.  His  boyhood  days 
were  spent  midst  play  and  work  and  in  his  youth 
he  served  a  two-years  apprenticeship  to  the  trade 
of  wagon-making  and  blacksmithing.  Hearing 
favorable  accounts  of  the  opportunities  and  ad- 
vantages afforded  youcg  men  in  the  New  World, 
he  determined  to  test  the  truth  of  these  reports  by 
emigrating  to  America  and  trying  his  fortune  in 
this  land  of  freedom.  Crossing  the  briny  deep  in 
1852,  he  spent  the  first  six  months  after  his  arrival 
in  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  and  during  the  succeeding  year 
was  employed  in  that  county. 

The  year  1854  witnessed  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Lien- 
hart  in  Illinois.  For  one  year  he  worked  as  a 
journeyman  in  Springfield,  and  in  1855  came  to 
Taylorville,  where  he  spent  two  and  a-half  years 
in  the  employ  of  Amos  Cheny.  In  1858,  he  went 
to  Dallas,  Tex.,  remaining  in  the  South  for  nearly 
ten  years,  when,  in  July,  1868,  he  returned  to  this 
place.  On  again  reaching  Taylorville,  Mr.  Lien- 
hart  established  himself  in  business  in  his  present 
line,  and  has  since  carried  on  operations.  He 
thoroughly  understands  his  business  in  all  its  de- 
tails, and  as  the  result  of  his  excellent  workman- 
ship and  fair  dealing,  he  has  gained  a  liberal  pat- 
ronage. His  trade  has  so  increased  that  he  now 
furnishes  employment  to  three  men. 

On  the  4th  of  September,  1860,  in  Dallas,  Tex., 
Mr.  Lienhart  was  joined  in  wedlock  with  Mary 
Adeline  Ridgeway,  a  native  of  Tennessee.  Three 


children  have  been  born  unto  them:  Margaret  Eliza- 
beth; John  Edward,  a  druggist;  and  Mary  Ida,  who 
became  the  wife  of  John  E.  Harrison,  of  Owen 
County,  Ind.,  and  died  November  20,  1892,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-six  years,  leaving  an  infant  son, 
George  Chase  Harrison,  who  is  now  with  his  grand- 
parents. 

Mr.  Lienhart  has  made  considerable  investments 
in  real  estate  and  built  five  residences  in  Taylor- 
ville. His  home  is  situated  in  the  midst  of  a  tract 
of  four  and  a-half  acres.  He  also  owns  a  number 
of  city  lots  in  Dallas,  Tex.  When  he  left  the  South 
property  couM  not  be  sold  except  at  a  very  low 
figure,  but  it  has  now  greatly  risen  in  value.  Our 
subject  is  an  industrious  and  enterprising  man  and 
his  well-directed  efforts  and  untiring  labors  have 
brought  him  the  property  which  now  places  him 
among  the  substantial  citizens  of  the  community. 
His  wife  is  a  member  of  the  Christian  Church,  and 
both  are  highly  respected  people,  having  many 
friends  in  Taylorville. 


JOSEPH  N.  EMERSON,  who   is  engaged  in 
general  farming  and  stock-raising   on    his 
well-equipped  and  ably-conducted  farm,  lo- 
cated on  section  32,  Stonington  Township, 
is  a  native  of  this  county,  having  been  born  March 
4,  1856,  in  the  same  township  where  he  still  makes 
his  home.     He  is  a  son  of  Richard  N.  and  Ann  E. 
(Keiser)  Emerson,  whose  sketch  may  be  found  in 
another  portion  of  this  volume. 

Our  subject  is  the  second  child  in  a  family  of 
eleven,  and  passed  his  boyhood  on  his  father's 
old  homestead,  which  was  his  birthplace.  He  was 
only  a  youth  of  fifteen  years  when  death  deprived 
him  of  a  father's  care,  and  he  therefore  continued 
to  live  with  his  mother,  rendering  her  dutiful  as- 
sistance on  the  home  farm,  until  he  was  twenty- 
eight  years  of  age. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Emerson  and  Miss  Angie 
O'Brien,  also  a  native  of  Stonington  Township, 
was  celebrated  April  8,  1884.  Two  children  have 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


371 


been  born  of  their  union,  a  son  and  a  daughter, 
namely:  Ila  G.  and  Clarence  W.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Emerson  are  well  received  in  the  social  circles  of 
the  neighborhood,  where  they  are  well  known, 
having  made  their  home  here  since  their  births. 
Mrs.  Emerson  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church. 

Like  his  father  before  him,  our  subject  is  a  true- 
blue  Republican.  He  has  always  been  interested 
in  promoting  the  cause  of  education,  has  served 
as  School  Director  for  several  terms,  and  is  now 
School  Trustee  of  his  district.  His  desirable  farm 
comprises  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  fertile 
and  well-cultivated  land.  It  is  well  adapted  for 
general  farming  and  stock-raising,  to  which  it  is 
devoted.  The  greater  portion  of  the  farm  repre- 
sents our  subject's  own  earnings  and  is  the  result 
of  his  years  of  industry.  The  place  is  located  only 
two  and  a-half  miles  southwest  of  Stonington, 
and  is  considered  one  of  the  best  farms  in  the 
township.  In  his  business  enterprises  Mr.  Emer- 
son has  been  abundantly  blessed  with  success,  and 
it  is  eminently  fitting  that  such  should  be  the 
case,  for  his  transactions  are  marked  witli  justice 
and  fair  dealing.  He  bears  an  enviable  reputa- 
tion in  the  county  as  a  man  of  honor  and  strict 
observance  of  his  word  and  contracts. 


•>ILLIAM  A.  NEWELL.  The  business  in- 
terests of  Pana  are  well  represented  by  the 
jentleman  whose  name  heads  this  sketch. 
He  is  one  of  the  leading  grocers,  having  estab- 
lished himself  in  business  in  this  line  some  twelve 
years  since.  By  his  earnest  desire  to  please  his 
customers  and  fair  dealings  he  has  won  the  confi- 
dence and  good-will  of  all,  and  has  secured  a  lib- 
eral share  of  the  public  patronage. 

Mr.  Newell  is  a  Canadian  by  birth.  He  was 
born  in  Peterboro,  Ontario,  March  30,  1857,  and  is 
one  of  twelve  children  whose  parents  were  Alfred 
and  Harriet  (Ryan)  Newell.  The  paternal  grand- 
father, John  Newell,  spent  his  entire  life  in  Eng- 


land,  his  native  land.  He  was  long  a  soldier, 
continuing  in  the  service  for  twenty -seven  years. 
His  death  occurred  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven. 
The  maternal  grandfather,  Thomas  Ryan,  was  a 
native  of  Ireland,  an  inn-keepei  of  that  country. 
He  was  called  to  his  final  rest  at  the  age  of  fifty. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  born  and  reared 
in  England,  and  throughout  the  greater  part  of  his 
life  devoted  his  energies  to  agricultural  pursuits, 
which  he  followed  many  years  in  Canada  and 
Michigan.  He  came  to  the  United  States  in  1857, 
and  made  his  home  in  Michigan  until  1878,  when 
he  came  to  Pana,  where  he  lived  retired  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  January  3,  1886,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-two  years.  His  wife  survived  him  a 
few  years  and  passed  away  on  Christmas  Day, 
1890,  also  at  the  age  of  seventy-two.  They  were 
both  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  their  lives  were  in  harmony  with  their  pro- 
fession. Of  their  five  sons  and  seven  daughters, 
Ann  Jane  is  now  the  wife  of  Robert  Bennett,  of 
Marshall,  Mich.;  Maggie  is  the  wife  of  James  C. 
Essick,  of  Chicago;  Julia  is  the  wife  of  John  Mur- 
dock,  of  Ft.  Worth,  Tex.;  Bessie  is  the  wife  of 
James  Limer,  of  Rosemond,  111.;  Eva  is  the  widow 
of  Preston  W.  Smith,  of  Chicago;  Robert  is  living 
in  Roseraond;  and  William  A.  and  Thomas  C. 
complete  the  family. 

William  A.  Newell,  whose  name  heads  this  rec- 
ord, was  still  in  his  infancy  when  his  parents  left 
Canada.  He  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm,  and 
acquired  his  education  in  the  schools  of  Kalama- 
zoo,  Mich.  He  may  truly  be  called  a  self-made 
man,  for  at  the  age  of  fourteen  he  began  to  earn 
his  own  livelihood  and  has  since  been  dependent 
upon  his  own  resources.  In  1880,  he  came  to 
Pana,  where  he  has  since  made  his  home, and  em- 
barked in  the  bakery  business,  which  he  conducted 
for  a  year,  and  then  opened  a  grocery  store,  which 
he  has  successfully  carried  on  continuously  since. 

An  important  event  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Newell 
occurred  October  31,  1883,  when  was  celebrated 
his  marriage  with  Miss  Arabella  Higgins,  daughter 
of  L.  D.  and  Cordelia  (McDaniels)  Higgins,  of 
Pana.  Four  children  have  been  born  unto  them, 
a  son  and  three  daughters:  Cordelia,  June,  Creigh- 
ton  and  Pearl.  The  family  has  a  pleasant  home, 


372 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


and  the  parents  are  prominent  people  in  the  com- 
rnunity.  Mr.  Newell  is  a  member  of  the  Tonti 
fraternity,  and  in  politics  is  a  supporter  of  Repub- 
lican principles,  but  has  never  been  an  aspirant 
for  public  office,  preferring  to  devote  his  time  and 
attention  to  his  business  interests,  in  which  he  has 
met  with  prosperity.  Working  his  way  upward 
from  an  humble  beginning,  he  has  now  reached  a 
place  among  the  substantial  citizens  of  the  com- 
munity. 


BARREN  CORZINE  is  one  of  the  leading 
merchants  and  business  men  of  Christian 
County,  and  has  been  successfully  en- 

in  the  lumber  and  coal  business  in  Ston- 
ington  for  several  years.  In  addition  to  this,  he 
owns  a  half-interest  in  a  general  merchandise  store 
in  the  village,  and  a  good  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  in  this  county,  which  is  well  im- 
proved, besides  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  in- 
herited by  his  wife. 

The  birthplace  of  Mr.  Corzine  is  in  Guernsey 
County,  Ohio.  He  was  born  January  24,  1857,  to 
Allen  and  Mary  Ann  (Warren)  Corzine.  They 
were  the  parents  of  nine  children,  six  sons  and 
three  daughters,  of  whom  our  subject  is  the  sixth 
child.  All  but  one  of  the  family  are' still  living. 
The  father  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  where 
he  lived  until  reaching  manhood.  Going  to  Guern- 
sey County,  he  bought  a  tract  of  wild  land, 
which  he  cultivated  until  1868.  Then,  com- 
ing to  this  county,  he  located  on  a  farm,  which 
he  carried  on  for  a  number  of  years,  but  is  now 
living  a  retired  life  in  Assumption,  being  eighty- 
seven  years  of  age.  His  grandfather  was  a  na- 
tive of  Holland,  and  was  killed  during  the  War 
of  1812,  while  he  was  in  the  service.  Our  sub- 
ject's mother,  who  was  born  in  the  Buckeye  State,  is 
of  German  descent,  and,  though  nearly  eighty  years 
of  age,  is  still  living. 

The  early  years  of  Warren  Corzine  were  passed 
on  his  father's  farm,  where  he  remained  until 


reaching  his  majority.  He  acquired  a  good  edu- 
cation in  the  common  schools,  and,  on  starting 
out  to  carve  his  own  fortune,  rented  a  farm  for  a 
short  time.  The  first  land  he  ever  owned  was 
located  in  Otoe  County,  Neb.,  near  the  village  of 
Douglas.  After  a  couple  of  years  spent  in  cul- 
tivating his  Western  farm,  Mr.  Corzine  returned 
to  Christian  County  and  engaged  in  farming  until 
1888,  when  he  sold  his  property  in  Nebraska  and 
became  a  resident  of  Stonington.  Since  that  time 
he  has  been  engaged  in  the  lumber  and  coal  busi- 
ness, of  which  he  has  made  a  good  success.  Only 
a  few  years  ago  he  was  a  poor  boy,  but  now  he 
owns  the  leading  lumber  and  coal  yard  in  Ston- 
ington, and  has  money  invested  in  various  other 
profitable  business  enterprises. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Corzine  and  Miss  Emma 
Burdick  was  celebrated  in  October,  1881.  The 
lady  is  a  native  of  this  county,  and  by  her  mar- 
riage has  become  the  mother  of  five  children,  all 
of  whom  are  now  living.  They  are  as  follows: 
Maud  E.,  Charles  J.,  Jessie  M.,  Lutie  Pearl  and 
Edith.  Mr.  Corzine-is  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  while  his  wife  belongs  to  the  Meth- 
odist denomination.  For  two  terms  our  subject 
served  as  Tax  Collector  of  the  township,  and  for 
a  like  period  has  acted  in  the  capacity  of  Trustee 
of  Stonington.  He  is  a  stanch  Republican,  being 
a  firm  believer  in  a  high  protective  tariff. 


JACOB  KAUFFMAN  EBERLE,  M.  D,   who 
is  engaged   in    the  practice  of  medicine  in 
Pana,  was  born  in  Petersburg,  Huntingdon 
County,  Pa.,  May  17,  1824, and  is  the  fourth 
son  and  seventh  child  born  of  the  union  of  Jacob 
Eberle  and  Catherine  Hewitt.     The  Eberle  family 
emigrated  to  Pennsylvania  from  Switzerland  with 
the  Kauffmans,  Neffs,   Freylingliuysens,  Muhlen- 
burgs  and  Newcomes.  Nicholas  Hewitt,  the  mater- 
nal grandfather  of  our  subject,  was  a  Revolution- 
ary hero  and  served  under  Washington.     The  pa- 
ternal grandfather,  Henry  Eberle,  accompanied  by 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


373 


his  two  older  brothers,  emigrated  from  Switzer- 
land and  settled  in  Lancaster  County,  Pa.,  where 
he  carried  on  a  large  gun  factory  in  the  interest 
of  the  State  during  the  Revolutionary  War.  It 
is  said  that  he  was  one  of  the  most  ingenious  men 
in  the  working  of  iron  in  Pennsylvania,  and  his 
sons  all  inherited  this  trait.  Jacob  Eberle,  father 
of  our  subject,  was  born  in  1782,  at  about  the 
time  of  the  close  of  the  struggle  for  independence. 
A  prominent  relative  of  our  subject  was  Prof.  John 
Eberle,  one  of  the  founders  of  Jefferson  Medical 
College,  and  who,  with  Prof.  Drake,  founded  the 
first  medical  college  in  Ohio.  He  was  the  author 
of  several  standard  medical  works,  and  his  untir- 
ing mind  and  industry  marked  out  a  way  for 
many  a  befogged  allopathic  student  to  reach  his 
mooring.  He  was  also  a  thorough  linguist,  be- 
ing familiar  with  eight  languages.  He  died  in 
Lexington,  Ky.,  in  1836. 

Dr.  Eberle,  whose  name  heads  this  record,  spent 
four  years  in  Alleghany  College,  of  Meadville, 
Pa.,  with  the  intention  of  entering  the  ministry, 
and  on  returning  home  in  July,  1850,  was  licensed 
as  a  local  preacher.  In  Jauuarj7,  1851,  he  was 
recommended  to  the  Baltimore  Conference,  which 
would  convene  in  February,  but  during  the  in- 
terval he  visited  a  young  lady  friend  who  was  at 
the  point  of  death,  and  after  conversing  with  her 
and  her  cousin  the  thought  flashed  through  his 
mind  that  he  could  do  much  greater  good  as  a 
local  preacher  and  doctor.  Telling  this  to  his 
friends,  they  at  once  advised  him  to  withdraw  his 
recommendation  to  the  conference  and  begin  the 
Mtidy  of  medicine.  In  April,  1851,  he  entered 
the  otliee  of  Dr.  John  D.  Ross,  an  eminent  physi- 
cian of  Williamsburg,  Pa.,  and  fitted  himself  to 
enter  the  medical  college  of  Philadelphia,  from 
which  he  was  graduated  in  1854.  He  also  grad- 
uated at  the  Warrington  Obstetrical  Institute,  of 
Philadelphia.  Not  long  after,  Dr.  Eberle  entered 
the  office  of  Dr.  Bishop,  of  that  city,  but  as  sum- 
mer came  on  he  left  for  Salladasburgh,  Lycoming 
County.  While  there  he  received  a  letter  asking 
him  to  go  to  Upper  Canada  and  take  a  practice 
which  an  old  physician  wished  to  give  up.  He, 
however,  refused,  and  in  the  fall  returned  home, 
and  from  there  he  went  to  Martinsburg,  Pa.,  where 


he  spent  the  winter.  It  was  his  intention  to  re- 
move to  the  West,  but  he  was  urged  to  go  to  Rays 
Hill  and  enter  upon  the  practice  of  Dr.  Hudson, 
who  had  just  died.  After  a  year  and  a-half,  how- 
ever, he  came  West  and  located  in  Sterling,  I1L, 
but  there  was  no  need  there  for  more  physicians, 
so  he  spent  the  succeeding  summer  in  Grand  De- 
tour, Ogle  County,  removing  thence  to  Amboy, 
Lee  County.  After  a  year,  however,  he  emigrated 
South. 

Dr.  Eberle  married  Miss  Marab,  daughter  of 
Henry  Shipley,  of  Baltimore.  She  lived  in  Cherry 
Grove,  Carroll  County,  and  was  a  niece  of  Gen. 
Win  field  Scott.  She  was  a  woman  of  great  force 
of  character,  determination  and  ability,  and  bore 
a  strong  resemblance  to  Gen.  Scott,  having  the 
same  firm  mouth,  indicating  great  decision,  and 
her  other  features  as  shown  in  her  portrait  re- 
call at  once  the  fine  physique  and  similar  tem- 
perament of  the  old  hero  of  the  Mexican  War. 
She  died  September  26,  1888,  in  her  fifty-seventh 
year.  Beloved  by  all,  a  wide  circle  of  friends 
mourned  her  loss.  She  was  very  beautiful  ill 
youth,  and  her  loveliness  of  feature  was  an  index 
to  her  greater  beauty  of  character.  Unto  the 
Doctor  and  his  wife  were  born  the  following  chil- 
dren: William  Winfield  Scott,  who  engaged  in 
law  practice  in  Bloomington  and  Chicago,  but  is 
now  an  attorney  of  Portland,  Ore.;  Homer  J.,  a 
railroad  employe  living  in  Mattoon,  111.;  and 
Grant,  a  jeweler  of  Portland,  Ore. 

After  his  marriage,  Dr.  Eberle  removed  to  Louis- 
ville, Ky.,  but,  on  account  of  the  excitement  pre- 
ceding the  war,  after  a  year  removed  to  Terre 
Haute,  Ind.,  where  he  remained  for  seven  years, 
enjoying  a  large  practice.  He  also  preached  each 
alternate  Sunday,  and  was  Superintendent  of  the 
Sunday-school,  but  his  arduous  duties  affected  his 
health  and  he  went  to  Chicago.  Finding  there 
was  no  lack  of  physicians  there,  he  went -to  Rock- 
ford,  111.,  where  he  engaged  in  office  practice,  but 
his  friends  in  Sterling  requested  his  return,  and  he 
acceded,  and  there  he  remained  till  June,  1880, 
when  he  came  to  Pana,  where  he  has  since  made 
his  home.  The  Doctor  was  trained  in  the  allo- 
pathic schools,  but  becoming  convinced  that  the 
practice  of  the  homeopathic  line  of  the  science  is 


374 


PORTKAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


the  only  correct  one,  he  made  a  special  study  of  it. 
and  has  since  given  his  patrons  the  benefit  of  his 
researches  in  that  direction.  He  has  had  a  wide 
practice,  and  for  thirly-nine  years  has  met  with 
most  excellent  success — a  well-deserved  tribute  to 
his  skill  and  ability.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Stale 
Medical  Society,  and  attended  the  World's  Medi- 
cal Congress  in  Chicago.  His  life  has  been  an 
honorable,  upright  one,  and  he  has  been  a  healer  of 
the  mind  as  well  as  of  the  body,  for  his  words  of 
encouragement  and  Christian  influence  have  aided 
many. 


EV.  EDGAR  WARNER  CLARKE,  who  is 
now  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Pana,Ill.,  is  widely  known  among  his  den- 
ominational brethren,  and  in  the  county 
where  he  makes  his  home  is  held  in  high  esteem 
by  a  large  circle  of  friends.  The  history  of  the 
community  would  be  incomplete  without  his 
sketch,  for  although  he  has  resided  here  for  a  com- 
paratively short  time  only,  he  has  done  much  to 
mold  public  opinion, and  his  influence  will  long  be 
felt  after  he  is  no  longer  numbered  among  the 
citizens  of  the  neighborhood.  He  was  born  on  the 
old  Clarke  homestead,  near  Milton.  N.  Y.,  May  29, 
1825,  and  is  the  fifth  child  of  Nathaniel  and  Han- 
nah Clarke.  He  received  excellent  educational 
privileges,  and  after  a  four-years  course  grad- 
uated from  Williams  College,  of  Berkshire  County, 
Mass.,  August  16,  1848.  He  then  spent  three 
years  in  the  Union  Theological  Seminary  of  New 
York  City,  from  which  he  was  graduated  on  the 
18th  of  June,  1851.  He  had  been  licensed  to  preach 
by  the  Presbytery  of  North  River  at  Freedom 
Plains,  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.,  on  the  16th  of 
April  previously,  and  delivered  his  first  sermon  in 
the  church  of  Dr.  Pennington,  D.  D.,of  New  York 
City,  who,  a  colored  man,  was  then  a  fugitive  in 
England  from  his  master. 

The   same  year,  on  the   9th  of    October,   1851, 
Rev.  Mr.  Clarke  was  united  in   marriage   by  Rev. 


W.  T.  Eustis,  of  Chapel  Street  Church,  of  New 
Haven,  with  Miss  Martha  A.,  daughter  of  Luther 
Northrop,  of  New  Haven,  Conn.,  formerly  of 
Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y.  She  was  a  native  of  Con- 
necticut, born  in  Bethjehem,  Li tch field  County,  on 
the  4th  of  August,  1824.  Her  education  was  ac- 
quired in  the  Pouglikeepsie  Female  Academy  and 
Leroy  Seminary,  now  Ingham  University.  She 
possesses  excellent  ability  as  an  instructor  and  has 
been  a  teacher  in  Poughkeepsie,  Marlboro  and 
New  Haven,  Conn.,  and  in  Riverside  Seminary,  of 
Milton,  N.  Y.  She  early  became  a  member  of  the 
First  Dutch  Reformed  Church  of  Poughkeepsie. 

Of  the  children  of  this  worthy  couple,  Herbert 
Marsh,  an  adopted  son,  who  was  born  in  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.,  May  5,  1853,  died  in  North  Evans,  Erie 
County,  N.  Y.,  September  2,  1853.  Charles  Na- 
thaniel, an  adopted  sou,  who  was  born  in  Aurora, 
N.  Y.,  May  21,  1853,  died  of  consumption  in 
North  K vans,  September  21,  1855.  Emma  Northrop, 
who  was  born  in  North  Evans  November  10, 1854, 
died  of  consumption  in  Medina,  N.  Y.,  September 
27,  1858,  and  was  buried  in  North  Evans.  Walter 
Hopkins,  who  was  born  in  North  Evans,  on  the 
25th  of  October,  1855,  there  died  January  4,  1856. 
Sophia  Adelia,  who  was  born  in  Medina  on  the 
12th  of  October,  1856,  died  in  that  place  June 
14,  1857.  Edg:ir  Luther,  who  was  born  in  Medina 
on  the  25th  of  January,  1858,  was  Professor  of 
Mathematics  in  Irvington  'College  for  five  years, 
but  is  now  a  fruit-grower  of  Pana,  residing  with 
his  parents.  Albert  Oscar,  who  was  born  in  Me- 
dina on  the  23d  of  May  1859,  was  a  teacher, 
in  Irvington  College,  but  is  now  an  architect  of 
St.  Louis,  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Matthews  & 
Clarke.  He  was  married  September  27,  1888,  to 
Grace  Emma  Brownlec.  Frances  Elizabeth  was 
born  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  August  29, 1854,  adopted 
from  the  "Home  of  Rochester"  in  February,  1859, 
educated  at  Riverside  Seminary,  at  Milton,  N.  Y., 
and  on  February  3, 1873,  became  the  wife  of  Clark- 
son  Jennings.  They  now  reside  in  Baltimore, 
Md.,  witli  their  three  children:  Lora  Marian,  Amy 
Louise  and  Arthur  Edgar.  Louise,  born  in  River- 
side Seminary,  Milton,  N.  Y.,  December  2,  1864, 
was  educated  at  Washington  Seminary,  Irvington 
College  and  Knox  College.  She  taught  in  the 


POETRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


375 


High  School  of  Pana  for  two  years  and  two  years 
iij  Blair,  Neb.,  where  she  is  now  the  Principal  of 
the  High  School. 

After  being  licensed  to  preach,  Rev.  Mr.  Clarke 
spent  one  year  at  Yale  University  as  a  resident 
graduate.  His  first  call  was  to  the  Congregational 
Church  of  North  Evans,  where  he  went  in  May, 
1852,  being  ordained  and  installed  by  a  council 
December  9,  1852.  In  March,  1856,  he  accepted 
a  call  from  the  church  in  Medina,  N.  Y.,  but  left 
that  place  with  broken  health  in  May,  1861,  and 
spent  one  year  on  the  old  Clarke  homestead.  He 
then  established  the  Riverside  Seminary  at  Milton, 
which  he  and  his  wife  conducted  untilJune,  1869, 
and  then  sold.  Removing  to  Cornwall,  N.  Y.,  he 
there  preached  for  the  Presbyterian  Church  for 
two  and  a-half  years,  but  declined  to  be  installed. 
He  has  served  as  Commissioner  to  four  General 
Assemblies  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  On  the 
llth  of  June,  1868,  he  received  the  degree  of  A. 
M.  from  Williams  College.  Receiving  a  call  from 
the  Congregational  Church  of  Sterling,  111.,  he  be- 
came its  pastor  September  1,  1872;  there  remain- 
ing for  a  year  and  a-half,  when  he  removed  to 
Richview,  111.,  in  April,  1874,  having  purchased 
the  Washington  Seminary  at  that  place.  Five 
years  later  he  sold  the  seminary  and  removed  to 
Irvington,  111.,  in  April,  1880,  to  take  charge  of 
Irvington  College.  Irvington  College  had  been 
established  as  an  agricultural  school.  Mr.  Clarke 
conducted  it  for  five  years  as  a  boarding-school 
with  marked  success,  in  fact  he  has  met  with  an 
excellent  degree  of  success  in  all  his  educational 
labors.  He  preached  in  Richview  from  1876  to 
1881,  also  in  Nashville  for  two  summers,  and  for 
two  years  in  the  Methodist  Church  of  Irvington. 

The  location  of  his  Cornwall  seminary  in  New 
York  was  a  popular  summer  resort.  Near  there  was 
the  old  home  of  N.  P.  Willis,  and  it  was  at  that 
time  the  home  of  E.  P.  Roe,  the  novelist.  Rev. 
Mr.  Clarke  frequently  visited  "Idle  Wild,"  the  old 
home  of  Willis,  with  whom  he  was  on  intimate 
terms,  and  was  familiar  with  all  the  places  of  note 
in  that  locality,  one  of  the  most  interesting  spots 
in  New  York.  His  work  there  was  of  a  very  en- 
tertaining character,  and  on  leaving  that  church 
his  successor  was  the  Rev.  Lyman  Abbott. 


On  the  1st  of  March,  1885,  our  subject  began 
pastoral  work  for  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Pana.  He  would  at  first  agree  to  remain  but 
five  months  at  this  place,  but  from  year  to  year  he 
yielded  to  the  earnest  solicitation  of  his  friends, 
and  consenting  finally,  on  the  29th  of  May,  1893, 
on  his  sixty-eighth  birthday,  he  was  formally  in- 
stalled as  pastor.  The  church  has  flourished  un- 
der his  able  ministration  and  he  has  added  to  it 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  new  members.  The 
house  of  worship  has  been  remodeled  and  painted, 
and  a  pipe  organ  has  been  secured.  This  church 
stands  at  the  head  for  its  liberality  toward  mis- 
sionary work.  Mr.  Clarke  is  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Home  Missions  and  has  the  oversight  of 
the  churches  in  Christian,  Shelby  and  Moultrie 
Counties. 

Rev.  Mr.  Clarke  and  his  family  reside  upon  a 
fruit  farm,  a  mile  west  of  Pana,  which  is  con- 
ducted by  his  son.  In  politics,  he  has  always  been 
on  the  side  of  reform,  and  is  a  supporter  of  the 
Republican  party.  The  cause  of  temperance  finds 
in  him  a  stanch  advocate.  His  life  has  been  de- 
voted to  Christian  service,  and  he  has  followed  in 
the  footsteps  of  the  Master,  preaching  and  tench- 
ing  wherever  he  has  gone.  He  has  the  love  not 
only  of  his  entire  congregation,  but  of  all  who 
know  him  in  this  community. 


JOHN  N.  MARION  is  one  of  the  foremost 
agriculturists  of  Stonington  Township,  and 
owns  a  valuable   farm    on    section    27,  ad- 
joining the  corporation  of  Stonington.    He 
has  acquired  a  fortune  since  coming  to  this  county 
when  a  young  man.  at  which  time  he  was  entirely 
without  means.    The  birth  of  Mr.  Marion  occurred 
in  Knox  County,  Ohio,  March   26,  1831.     His  fa- 
ther, John  Marion,  was   of   German   descent,  and 
was  born   in   Newton,  N.  J.,  in  1803.     His  father 
was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution.     Mr. 
Marion  remained  in  New  Jersey  until  arriving  at 


376 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


manhood,  when  he  removed  to  Knox  County, 
Ohio,  and  there  engaged  in  farming  until  his 
death,  in  1849.  His  wife,  who  was  also  of  Ger- 
man descent,  was  born  in  Knox  County  in  1805, 
and  had  the  honor  of  being  one  of  the  very  first 
white  children  born  in  that  county.  Her  parents 
were  among  the  first  settlers  of  that  region,  and 
suffered  many  hardships,  both  from  privations 
and  from  the  Indians. 

Our  subject  is  one  of  seven  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters, of  whom  he  is  the  fourth  child.  Jacob  H. 
is  now  living  a  retired  life  in  Clarence,  Mo.;  Frank 
W.  is  editor  of  the  Plant  City  Courier,  of  Plant 
City,  Fla.;  Lodenia  is  the  widow  of  Henry  Howe, 
and  makes  her  home  in  Omaha,  Neb.;  and  Elizabeth 
is  the  wife  of  John  I.  Trimmer,  an  agriculturist 
residing  near  New  Point,  Mo. 

Until  his  twenty-second  year  John  N.  Marion 
assisted  his  father  in  carrying  on  the  old  home- 
stead. He  then  married  Miss  Lizzie  Coleman, 
who  was  born  October  18,  1829,  in  Knox  County, 
Ohio.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Ichabod  and  Barbara 
(McKirmot)  Coleman.  The  former  was  born  in 
Washington  County,  Pa.,  in  1802,  and  the  latter 
was  a  native  of  Ireland.  Her  father  was  only  a 
year  old  when  his  parents  located  in  Knox  Coun- 
ty. In  early  life  he  was  a  machinist,  but  later 
turned  his  attention  to  farming.  He  died  in  that 
county  at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years.  His  fa- 
ther, who  came  from  Germany,  took  part  in  the 
Revolution.  Mrs.  Coleman  was  only  three  months 
old  when  her  parents  came  from  Ireland  to  Amer- 
ica. Her  father  was  a  highly  educated  man  and 
taught  school  in  Dublin,  and  in  Harlem,  N.  Y. 
The  death  of  Mrs.  Coleman  occurred  in  Knox 
County,  when  she  had  attained  to  fifty-three 
years  of  age.  The  only  son  and  child  of  our 
subject  and  his  wife,  Frank  H.,  was  called  from 
this  life  at  the  age  of  thirty-three  years. 

After  his  marriage  Mr.  Marion  emigrated  to 
Holt  County,  Mo.,  making  the  trip  by  team.  He 
rented  a  farm  for  five  years,  after  which  he  bought 
a  tract  of  land,  to  the  cultivation  of  which  he 
gave  his  attention  until  1860,  when  he  left  the 
State  on  account  of  the  imminence  of  the  Civil 
War.  Coming  to  Christian  County,  he  rented  a 
farm  for  three  years,  after  which  he  purchased  a 


place  of  forty  acres.  As  the  years  passed  he  greatly 
extended  his  domain,  and  is  now  the  owner  of 
four  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  highly  fertile 
land. 

Mr.  Marion  was  not  given  much  advantage  in 
the  way  of  an  education  in  his  youth,  and  was 
quite  a  young  man  when  he  attended  the  district 
schools  for  three  months  in  the  year  in  order  to 
increase  his  knowledge..  He  has  been  an  exten- 
sive reader  and  is  mainly  self-educated.  In  poli- 
tics he  casts  his  ballot  for  Democratic  nominees, 
and,  though  not  a  member  of  any  church,  contrib- 
utes liberally  to  churches  and  benevolent  work. 
For  a  number  of  years  he  has  served  as  one  of 
the  School  Directors.  In  this  community,  where 
he  is  so  well  known,  he  is  universally  respected. 


E MANUEL  T.  LEIGH  is  one  of  the  honored 
pioneers  of  Illinois,  having  been  a  resident 
of  this  State  for  seventy  years.  He  has 
made  his  home  for  fifty-four  years  of  this  time  in 
Bear  Creek  Township,  his  place  of  residence  being 
situated  on  section  21,  where  he  owns  a  valuable 
farm.  Mr.  Leigli  experienced  many  hardships 
during  his  early  years  in  the  Prairie  State,  and 
well  remembers  when  wolves,  rattlesnakes  and 
wild  animals  of  various  kinds  were  very  numerous. 
The  birth  of  our  subject  occurred  in  Prince  Ed- 
ward County,  Va.,  July  27,  1816.  His  parents, 
Emanuel  J.  and  Martha  (Thomason)  Leigh,  were 
likewise  natives  of  the  Old  Dominion,  where  their 
marriage  was  celebrated.  The  father  was  a  soldier 
during  the  War  of  1812,  entering  the  service  as  a 
Captain,  and  being  later  promoted  to  the  rank 
of  Major.  Afterward  he  followed  merchandising 
at  Prince  Edward  Court  House  for  main'  years. 
His  store  having  been  destroyed  by  fire,  he  moved 
to  Indiana  in  October,  1822,  and  remained  there 
during  the  winter.  In  the  springof  the  following 
year  he  took  his  family  to  Illinois  and  made  a  set- 
tlement on  a  farm  three  miles  southeast  of  Ed- 
wardsville,  Madison  County.  For  this  place, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


377 


which  is  now  valued  at  over  $100  per  acre,  he  paid 
$3  an  acie,  after  having  lived  upon  it  for  seven 
years.  For  a  period  of  eleven  years  he  engaged 
in  cultivating  the  farm,  and  during  his  residence 
in  that  county  was  Commissioner  for  eight  years. 
Later  he  removed  to  Brushy  Mound,  in  Macoupin 
County,  living  on  a  farm  there  for  five  years.  In 
1839,  he  permanently  located  on  land  which  is 
now  comprised  within  the  limits  of  Bear  Creek 
Township,  and  which  is  the  present  home  of  our 
subject.  The  father  was  much  respected  in  this 
community  and  with  his  wife  held  membership  in 
the  Methodist  Church.  He  passed  from  this  life 
February  15,  1848,  when  in  his  seventy-third  year. 
Mrs.  Leigh  survived  him  three  years,  dying  at  the 
age  of  sixty-eight.  The  Leigh  family  is  of  Eng- 
lish descent. 

The  family  of  which  our  subject  is  a  member 
numbered  eleven  children,  as  follows:  Albert  G., 
Jane,  Emanuel  T.,  John,  Martha  A.,  Daniel  I)., 
Indiana,  James  M.,  David,  Mary,  and  one  who 
died  in  infancy.  Of  this  large  family  only  one, 
Emanuel,  yet  survives.  His  boyhood  was  passed 
in  his  native  county  and  in  Madison  County,  111. 
His  educational  privileges  were  of  a  limited  de- 
scription, as  schools  were  few  and  poorly  conducted 
in  those  early  days.  In  fact,  many  hardships  were 
necessarily  endured  by  those  early  pioneers  who 
paved  the  way  to  the  present  prosperity  of  this 
State.  Until  he  was  thirty  years  of  age,  Mr. 
Leigh  never  boasted  the  possession  of  a  pair  of 
boots  or  an  overcoat.  He  remained  with  his  par- 
ents until  separated  from  them  by  death. 

On  the  5th  of  February,  1842,  was  celebrated 
-  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Leigh  and  Miss  Mary  Ann, 
daughter  of  John  and  Betsey  (Reed)  Hill,  the 
former  born  in  Virginia,  and  the  latter  in  Lexing-' 
ton,  Ky.  Eleven  children  graced  the  union  of 
our  subject  and  wife.  Martha  A.  became  the  wife 
of  James  Boyd,  now  of  Palmer.  They  have  had  a 
family  of  ten  children.  Benjamin  F.  is  the  second 
in  order  of  birth  and  lives  on  the  old  homestead. 
William  T.  wedded  Miss  Jennie  Simpson,  now  de- 
ceased, who  became  the  mother  of  three  children, 
Noah,  Ross  and  Flora.  David  G.  is  living  with 
his  father.  James  W.  married  Miss  Angle  Curvy, 
and  makes  his  home  in  Palmer.  They  have  one 


child,  a  daughter,  Cora.  John  H.  took  for  his 
wife  Miss  Minnie  Heuffner,  and  they  have  one 
daughter,  Bessie.  Their  home  is  three  miles 
northwest  of  Palmer.  Elizabeth,  who  is  now  de- 
ceased, was  the  wife  of  John  Kline,  and  was  the 
mother  of  a  son,  Elmer.  Julia,  who  is  now  Mrs. 
William  Clark,  has  one  child,  Maude.  The  fam- 
ily lives  three  miles  east  of  Palmer.  Lydia  Marga- 
ret, who  lives  in  Rajrmond,  111.,  is  the  wife  of 
William  Starr.  Clara  resides  at  home,  and  one 
child  who  died  in  infancy  completed  the  family. 
The  faithful  wife  and  mother  of  these  children 
died  in  1886,  iu  her  sixty-eighth  year. 

For  some  years  Mr.  Leigh  was  connected  with 
the  Odd  Fellows'  fraternity.  He  has  never  de- 
sired office,  but  served  for  one  term  as  Supervisor 
of  his  township.  In  former  years  he  was  a  Whig, 
and  has  acted  with  the  Republican  party  ever 
since  its  organization.  He  has  been  a  witness  of 
vast  changes  in  Christian  County,  in  the  develop- 
ment of  which  he  has  taken  an  active  share.  On 
his  arrival  here  there  were  no  fences,  and  grain 
was  reaped  with  a  scythe  or  a  small  sickle. 


PR.  GEORGE  FRINGER,  who  is  engaged  in 
the  practice  of  medicine  and  surgery  in  Pana, 
is  one  of  the  well-informed  physicians  of  the 
county,  holding  an  enviable  reputation  among  his 
professional  brethren.     Thorough  preparation  and 
study  in  various  colleges  have  well  fitted  him  for 
his  life  work,  and  his  deep  researches  have  gained 
him  a  skill  and  ability  that  now  win  him  a  liberal 
patronage. 

The  Doctor  was  born  in  Carroll  County,  Md., 
March  24,  1834,  and  his  parents,  George  and  Susan 
(Null)  Fringer,  were  natives  of  the  same  State. 
Their  family  numbered  six  sons  and  a  daughter,  as 
follows:  Alice  Ann,  now  the  wife  of  Samuel  Bow- 
ers, of  Baltimore,  Md.;  George  W.,  Nicholas,  Mi- 
chael M.,  Jacob,  Worthington  and  Ephraim  J.  The 
father  of  this  family  was  a  miller  by  trade  and  fol- 
lowed that  business  near  Taneytowu,  Md.,  where 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


he  died  in  1847,  at  the  age  of  forty-three  years. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  German  Reformed  Church, 
and  his  wife  is  a  Lutheran  in  religious  belief.  She 
is  still  living,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-four. 
The  Friuger  family  is  of  German  descent,  and  was 
founded  in  America  by  the  paternal  grandfather 
of  our  subject,  who  for  many  years  resided  in  Mary- 
land, and  died  at  the  age  of  eighty.  He  reared  a 
family  of  four  sons  and  two  daughters.  The  ma- 
ternal grandfather,  Michael  Null,  was  also  a  native 
of  Germany,  and  died  in  Maryland  when  past  the 
age  of  eighty  years. 

The  Doctor  was  reared  in  the  State  of  his  na- 
tivity and  acquired  his  literary  education  in  its 
public  schools  and  in  the  seminary  of  Taneytown. 
At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  started  Westward  and 
spent  one  year  near  Tiffin,  Ohio,  after  which  he 
returned  to  Maryland.  A  year  later  he  removed 
to  Indiana,and  thence  to  Shelbyville,  111.,  where  he 
made  his  home  from  1859  until  1866.  His  next 
place  of  residence  was  Tower  Hill,  where  he  con- 
tinued to  reside  until  1889,  since  which  time  he 
has  made  his  home  in  Paua. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-eight,  Dr.  Fringer  began 
the  study  of  medicine  in  Shelbyville,  where  he  was 
at  that  time  engaged  in  the  drug  business.  He  af- 
terward took  a  course  of  lectures  in  the  Missouri 
Medical  College,  of  St.  Louis,  in  1863  and  again  in 
1869.  In  1865,  he  was  a  student  in  Rush  Medical 
College  of  Chicago,  but  four  years  later  was  grad- 
uated from  the  Missouri  Medical  College.  In  1889, 
he  received  a  diploma  from  the  College  of  Physi- 
cians and  Surgeons  of  St.  Louis.  He  has  ever  been 
a  close  student  of  his  profession  and  has  done  all 
in  his  power  to  perfect  himself  in  the  science. 

On  the  13th  of  February,  1862,  near  Gettysburg, 
Pa.,  Dr.  Fringer  wedded  Miss  Martha  V.  Cover,  a 
daughter  of  Jacob  and  Mary  (Jones)  Cover.  Three 
children  have  blessed  this  union:  William  R.,  Mol- 
lie  V.,  and  Erfie  S.  Tue  elder  daughter  is  now  the 
wife  of  John  F.  Cover.  They  reside  in  Toulon, 
111.,  and  have  one  son,  Gus  D. 

During  the  late  war,  the  Doctor  enlisted  in  the 
service  as  a  member  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Fif- 
teenth Illinois  Infantry,  and  continued  at  the  front 
until  December,  1862,  when  he  was  discharged  at 
Paducah,  Ky.,  on  account  of  physical  disability. 


He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Presbyteris 
Church,  and  are  ranked  among  the  prominent  anc 
influential  citizens  of  this  community.  Besides 
his  pleasant  home  in  Pana  he  owns  two  hundred 
acres  of  improved  land  in  Shelby  County,  which 
3'ields  to  him  a  good  income.  He  is  surgeon  for 
the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company  and  for 
Penwells  Coal  Mining  Company  of  Pana.  In  poli- 
tics, he  is  a  Democoat.  He  holds  membership  with 
the  State  and  District  Medical  Societies,  and  is  a 
member  of  Pana  Lodge  No.  226,  A.  F.  &  A.  M., 
and  the  Ancient  Order  of  United  Workmen  of 
Tower  Hill. 


OAPOLEON  B.  CHALFANT  is  one  of  the 
most  prominent  and  leading  stock-dealers 
of  Pana  Township.  He  resides  on  section 
30,  where  he  has  a  good  farm.  A  native  of  Ohio, 
he  was  born  near  Philadelphia,  Tuscarawas  Coun- 
ty, on  the  9th  of  December,  1846,  and  is  a  son  of 
Abner  and  Rachel  (McDonough)  Chalfant.  The 
father  was  born  in  Brownsville,  Pa.,  and  the 
mother  in  Tuscarawas  County.  The  paternal 
grandfather,  Charles  Chalfant,  was  also  a  native 
of  Pennsylvania,  but  was  of  French  descent.  By 
trade  he  was  a  wheelwright.  Hugh  McDonough, 
the  maternal  grandfather,  was  born  in  Harrison 
County,  Ohio,  and  was  of  Irish  lineage.  He  served 
in  the  War  of  1812  under  Gen.  Harrison,  and  the 
father  of  our  subject  also  bore  arms  in  that  strug- 
gle. Abner  Chalfant  was  a  farmer  and  speculator. 
He  came  to  Illinois  in  1863,  and  settled  in  Clay 
County,  where  he  died  in  1865,  in  his  seventy- 
ninth  year.  His  wife  died  in  her  fifty-second  year. 
They  were  the  parents  of  four  sons  and  a  daughter. 
Our  subject  was  the  third  child  and  second  son, 
and  is  the  only  one  of  the  family  now  living.  He 
was  reared  in  the  county  of  his  nativity,  and  the 
common  schools  afforded  him  his  educational  priv- 
ileges. During  the  late  war  he  abandoned  his  text 
books  and  the  plow  to  shoulder  the  musket  in  his 
country's  defense,  and  became  a  member  of  Com- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


379 


pan}-  E,  Fifty-first  Ohio  Infantry,  under  Capt. 
David  Chalfant,  his  brother,  and  Col.  Stanley 
Matthews.  Our  subject  was  then  only  in  his  four- 
teenth year.  He  was  not  regularly  mustered  in, 
but  went  as  a  drummer-boy  and  remained  with 
the  regiment  for  two  years  without  pay.  After 
his  brother  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Stone  River 
he  returned  home  and  re-enlisted  in  Company  E, 
One  Hundred  and  Fifty-second  Illinois  Infantry, 
in  which  he  served  until  the  close  of  the  war,  be- 
ing mustered  out  in  Springfield,  111.,  September  16, 
1865. 

Mr.  Chalfant  then  returned  to  his  father's  home 
in  Clay  County, 111.,  and  carried  on  his  farm  until 

1876.  January  13,  1876,  he  was  united    in    mar- 
riage with  Caroline  Bourquin,  a  native  of  Tusca- 
rawas   County,  Ohio.     Her  parents  were  natives 
of  France,  who,  emigrating  to  America,  located  in 
the  Buckeye  State  in  an  early  day.    She  died  very 
suddenly  on  the  15th  of  June,  1881,  leaving  two 
children,  Edward   and    Otto.     Mr.  Chalfant   was 
again  married,  October  17,  1887,  his  second  union 
being  with  Miss  Am'anda  Speke,  a  native  of  San- 
gamou    County,   111.    Three   children   grace   this 
union,  Leon,  Garred  and  Mary. 

Mr.  Chalfant  continued  in   Clay  County  until 

1877,  when  he  came  to  Christian  County,  locating 
on   a  farm  in   Rosemond    Township,  where  he  re- 
mained  until  the  2d  of  March,  1880,  when  he  re- 
moved to  his  present  farm.   He  owns  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  good  land,  which  is  highly  cul- 
tivated, but  he  is    now  making  a  specialty  of  the 
breeding  of  Jersey  cattle,  having  a  fine  herd  of 
thirty  head.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican,  and  is  a 
member  of  Pope  Post  No.  411,  G.  A.  R.,  and  served 
for  some  years  as  Aide  de-Camp  on  the  staff  of  the 
Department  Commander.    He  attends  all  the  State 
and  national  encampments,  has  been  a  delegate  to 
these,  and  in  1893  was  a  delegate  to  the  National 
Encampment   in    Indianapolis.     Mr.  Chalfant    is 
practically  a  self-made  man,  his   possessions  hav- 
ing all  been  acquired  through  his  own  efforts.    He 
is  also  a  self-educated  man,  and  is  one  of  the  best- 
informed  citizens   of  the  community.     He  has  al- 
ways  been  a  great  reader  of  standard  works  and 
has  been  a  special  student  of  history  and  biogra- 
phy.  He  has  a  fine  library, and  his  familiarity  with 


the  thoughts  of  our  best  writers  has  not  only  made 
him  an  intelligent  man,  but  an  entertaining  and 
interesting  conversationalist  as  well. 


EM.  ALVERSON,  M.  D.,  the  popular  and 
only  physician  of  Stonington,  has  been  suc- 
cessfully engaged  in  practice  at  this  point 
for  a  period  of  about  fourteen  years.  He  numbers 
a  great  many  friends  and  patrons  in  this  commu- 
nity who  hold  him  in  high  esteem.  He  is  a  na- 
tive of  Schuyler  County,  Mo.,  where  his  birth  oc- 
curred August  27,  1851.  He  is  the  eldest  child  of 
L.  M.  and  Margaret  (Gates)  Alverson.  Of  their 
family  of  five  sons  and  three  daughters,  only  four 
still  survive.  M.  D.  is  engaged  in  farming  near 
Armstrong,  Mo.;  P.  H.  is  also  a  farmer  of  Mis- 
souri; and  Mary  became  the  wife  of  William  Ros- 
well,  an  agriculturist  of  Missouri. 

The  father  of  the  Doctor,  L.  M.  Alverson,  was 
born  in  Madison  County,  Ky.,  and  was  taken  by 
his  parents  when  quite  young  to  Howard  County, 
Mo.,  where  he  grew  up  on  his  father's  farm.  He 
remained  at  home  until  he  was  of  age,  being  given 
a  common-school  education.  After  his  marriage 
he  removed  to  Schuyler  County,  Mo.,  where  he 
engaged  in  farming  for  a  few  years,  later  returning 
to  Howard  County,  where  he  still  resides.  He  is 
greatly  interested  in  politics,  using  his  influence 
in  support  of  the  Democratic  party.  His  ancestors 
•were  from  Scotland,  while  those  of  his  wife  were 
natives  of  England.  She  was  also  a  native  of 
Kentucky,  and  is  still  living. 

The  early  years  of  Dr.  Alverson  were  passed  on 

his  father's  farm  in  Missouri,  where    he   attended 

I    the  common   schools  until  nineteen  years  of  age. 

He  then  engaged  in  teaching  in  the  district  schools 

for  two  years,  after  which  he  for  a  year  pursued 

higher  studies    in    the    State    Normal    School  at 

Kirksville,    Mo.     After    teaching  for  three  years 

longer  in  order  to  obtain  sufficient  means  to  pur- 

i   sue  the  study  of  medicine,  the  Doctor  entered  the 


380 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Missouri  Medical  College  of  St.  Louis,  from  which 
institution  he  was  graduated  in  1879.  He  at  once 
located  in  Stonington,  and  has  continued  in  prac- 
tice up  to  the  present  time,  and  as  he  is  the  only 
physician  in  the  town,  has  the  field  all  to  himself. 

On  the  4th  of  October,  1881,  Dr.  Alverson  wed- 
ded Miss  Amelia  Weiser,  of  Stonington.  They 
have  had  four  daughters,  namely:  Grace,  Eva, 
Maud  and  Verna.  The  mother  is  a  member  of 
the  German  Reformed  Church,  and  is  a  lady  who 
is  universally  beloved. 

Like  his  father  before  him,  the  Doctor  supports 
the  Democratic  party,  and  is  an  active  worker  in 
the  ranks.  For  a  number  of  years  he  has  been  a 
member  of  the  Democratic  Central  Committee, 
representing  Stonington  Township.  For  two  terms 
he  served  as  Supervisor  of  the  township,  and  has 
been  City  Clerk  for  about  five  years.  He  is  inter- 
ested in  educational  matters,  as  he  has  always  been 
from  early  years,  and  has  acted  as  School  Director. 
Fraternally,  he  is  associated  with  the  Odd  Fellows, 
belonging  to  Lodge  No.  695,  of  Stonington.  He 
is  examining  physician,  and  a  member  of  Camp 
No.  334,  M.  W.  A.,  of  the  same  place.  He  is  a 
Notary  Public,  and  also  writes  up  fire  insurance. 
During  his  residence  here  the  Doctor  has  made 
many  friends,  and  is  very  popular.  He  is  a  self- 
made  man,  having  acquired  his  medical  education 
and  success  in  professional  life  by  earnest  en- 
deavor and  perseverance. 


JOHN  N.  NELMS,  M.  D.,  who  has   been  en- 
gaged in  the  practice  of  medicine  in   Tay- 
lorville    since   August,  1889,  was  born   in 
Grimes  County,  Tex.,  October  6,  1856,  and 
at  the  age  of  four  years  went  to  Illinois  with  his 
parents,  the  family  settling  in  Christian  County. 
His  father,  James  D.  Nelms,  is  a  carpenter,  and  for 
man}'  years  has  followed  that  trade,  and  is  now 
residing  in  Edinburgh.  He  isa  native  of  Kentucky, 
and  first  came  to  Christian   County  in    1830   with 
his  father,  Thomas  Nelms,  who  for  some  time  fol- 


lowed farming  near  Mt.  Zion,  111.,  and  was  killed 
by  a  tree  falling  upon  him.  In  1852  James  Nelms 
went  to  Texas,  where  he  remained  until  1860.  As 
before  stated,  he  and  his  wife  are  now  living  in 
Edinburgh.  She  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Sallie 
L.  Neely,  and  is  a  native  of  Tennessee. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  remained  with  his 
parents  until  eighteen  years  of  age.  Since  that 
time  he  has  earned  his  own  livelihood,  and  what- 
ever success  he  has  achieved  in  life  is  due  entirely 
to  his  own  efforts.  He  acquired  his  education  in 
the  district  schools,  and  by  private  study.  In 
1878  lie  began  teaching  school,  and  followed  that 
profession  in  Christian  and  Macon  Counties  for 
ten  years,  being  employed  at  Blue  Mound,  Palmer, 
Owaneco,  Stonington,  and  in  the  district  schools. 
For  one  year  he  read  law,  and  while  engaged  in 
teaching  began  the  study  of  medicine  with  the 
firm  of  Toby  &  Harvey,  of  Blue  Mound.  In  the 
terms  of  1888  and  1889  he  was  a  student  in  the 
medical  department  of  the  University  of  Wooster, 
at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  was  graduated  from  that 
institution  on  the  24th  of  July  of  the  latter  year, 
with  the  degree  of  M.  D. 

On  the  8th  of  April,  1880,  the  Doctor  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Miss  Charlotte  Yockey,  who  was 
born  in  Bartholomew  County,  Ind.,and  isa  daugh- 
ter of  John  and  Lydia  (Baughman)  Yockey,  of 
Stonington  Township.  They  have  a  daughter, 
Luella  Pearl,  now  a  maiden  of  ten  summers;  they 
also  lost  one  child,  Minnie  Irene,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  fourteen  months. 

Immediately  following  his  graduation,  Dr.  Nelms 
located  in  Taylorville,  where  he  has  since  engaged 
in  the  practice  of  medicine  and  surgery.  Although 
quite  young  in  his  chosen  work,  he  has  already 
gained  a  reputation  whicli  many  an  older  prac- 
titioner might  well  envy.  Several  very  difficult 
cases  have  come  under  his  care,  and  have  been 
successfully  treated.  He  is  a  member  and  Sec- 
retary of  the  Central  Illinois  District  Medical  So- 
ciety, having  held  that  position  since  April,  1893, 
and  is  also  a  member  of  the  State  Medical  Society. 
He  takes  an  active  and  prominent  part  in  these 
organizations,  and  has  been  a  frequent  contributor 
to  medical  journals,  especially  to  the  Cleveland 
Medical  Gazette.  Socially,  he  belongs  to  Mystic 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


381 


Lodge  No.  64,  K>  P.,  has  been  Keeper  of  the  Rec- 
ords and  Seals  and  is  now  Vice-Chancellor.  In 
politics,  he  is  a  supporter  of  the  Democratic  party, 
and  takes  an  active  interest  in  its  success  and 
growth.  The  Doctor  is  a  pleasant,  genial  gentle- 
man, very  popular,  and  has  a  host  of  friends 
throughout  the  community. 


§ENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  CARPER  is  one 
of  the  most  prominent  and  enterprising 
farmers  and  stock-raisers  of  Christian 
County.  He  resides  on  section  23,  Rose- 
mond  Township,  where  he  owns  two  hundred  and 
thirty-four  acres  of  valuable  land.  In  return  for 
the  care  and  labor  he  bestows  upon  it,  it  yields  to 
him  a  golden  tribute,  for  much  of  it  is  highly 
cultivated.  He  makes  a  specialty  of  the  breeding 
of  fine  Jersey  cattle,  horses  and  sheep.  Upon  his 
farm  may  be  found  seven  head  of  Jersey  cows, 
one  hundred  and  forty  head  of  Shropshire  sheep, 
and  eight  fine  Percheron  horses.  No  man  lias 
done  more  to  advance  the  grade  of  stock  in  this 
community  than  our  subject,  and  no  finer  speci- 
mens of  stock  can  be  shown  in  Illinois  than  may 
be  found  on  his  place. 

Mr.  Carper  was  born  in  Upshur  County,  W.  Va., 
January  7,  1849.  His  paternal  grandfather,  Abram 
Carper,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  was  of  German 
descent,  and  was  a  hatter  by  trade.  Daniel  Car- 
per, the  father,  was  born  in  West  Virginia,  and 
became  an  extensive  farmer.  He  married  Sarah  J. 
Squires,  a  native  of  the  same  State,  and  a  daugh- 
ter of  Asa  Squires,  an  agriculturist,  who  was  born 
in  Maryland. 

Our  subject  is  the  second  in  order  of  birth  in  a 
family  of  five  sons  and  one  daughter  who  graced 
the  union  of  his  parents.  His  early  education 
was  acquired  in  the  district  school,  and  lie  after- 
ward attended  Morgantown  University.  He  en- 
gaged in  merchandising  in  Buckhannon,  W.  Va., 
which  was  his  first  business  venture.  After  two 


years  he  sold  out,  and  in  1869  he  came  to  Chris- 
tian County,  locating  in  Rosemond  Township, 
where  he  purchased  a  farm.  In  February,  1 871, 
he  married  Amelia  Hutton,  who  died  leaving  a 
daughter,  Amelia,  who  is  now  with  her  grand- 
mother in  West  Virginia.  For  his  second  wife 
Mr.  Carper  chose  Clarissa  Childs,  who  died  leav- 
ing two  children,  Daniel  and  Clara.  The  lady 
who  now  bears  the  name  of  Mrs.  Carper  was 
Catherine  B.  Cowgill,  daughter  of  Alfred  and 
Sarah  Cowgill. 

In  1884,  Mi-.  Carper  went  to  Rockford,  Mich., 
where  for  three  years  he  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture of  paper.  He  then  returned  to  his  pres- 
ent home  and  has  since  extensively  engaged  in 
farming  and  stock-raising,  meeting  witti  good 
success  in  his  undertakings.  In  politics,  he  is  a 
supporter  of  Democratic  principles,  and  socially 
belongs  to  the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America  of 
Rosemond.  He  also  belongs  to  the  Congrega- 
tional Church.  His  home,  a  commodious  and 
beautiful  two-story  irame  dwelling,  is  the  best 
residence  in  Rosemond.  Mr.  Carper  has  made  his 
way  in  life  unaided  by  financial  assistance,  and 
from  a  humble  position  has  worked  his  way  up- 
ward to  one  of  wealth  and  affluence.  His  busi- 
ness career  has  been  a  profitable  and  prosperous 
one,  and  for  his  success  he  certainly  deserves  much 
credit.  He  is  a  public-spirited  and  progressive 
citizen,  and  manifests  a  commendable  interest  in 
everything  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  the  com- 
munity and  its  upbuilding. 


GEORGE  HUTCHINSON,  a  well-known  mer- 
chant and  the  efficient  Mayor  of  Assump- 
tion, is  numbered  among  the  leading  and 
influential  citizens  of  this  place,  and  well  deserves 
representation  in  the  history  of  his  adopted  county. 
It  is  with  pleasure  that  we  add  his  sketch  to  those 
of  other   men   of  prominence  in  this  community. 
Mr.  Hutchinson    is  a    native  of  Canada.     lie  WMS 
born  in  Phillipsburg,  Province  of  Quebec,  Canada, 


382 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


in  1844,  and  is  a  son  of  William  Hutchinson,  who 
is  supposed  to  have  been  killed  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains  while  on  his  way  to  California,  in 
1849. 

Our  subject  came  to  the  United  States  when  a 
lad  of  twelve  years,  and  was  reared  on  a  farm  in 
Vermont,  being  early  inured  to  hard  labor.  In 
early  life  he  attended  the  common  schools,  and  his 
education  was  completed  in  the  High  School  of 
New  St.  Albans,  Vt.  He  then  worked  as  a  farm 
hand  in  the  Green  Mountain  State  until,  when  a 
young  man  of  twenty-five,  he  came  Westward  to 
Illinois,  in  1869,  and  took  up  his  residence  in 
Assumption,  then  a  small  village  of  about  four 
hundred  inhabitants.  For  some  years  he  was  em- 
ployed as  a  salesman,  but  in  1876  embarked  in 
business  for  himself  as  a  dealer  in  groceries  and 
restaurant-keeper.  His  store  he  has  since  car- 
ried on,  and  it  is  now  well  stocked  with  every- 
thing found  in  a  first-class  establishment  of  the 
kind.  On  account  of  his  straightforward  and 
honorable  dealings,  his  courteous  treatment  and 
his  desire  to  please  his  customers,  he  has  built  up 
a  good  trade. 

In  1870,  Mr.  Hutchinson  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Miss  Siloma  Hall,  a  native  of  "Ohio,  who 
came  to  Illinois  in  early  girlhood  and  was  reared 
and  educated  in  Christian  County.  By  their 
union  have  been  born  six  children:,  William  R., 
who  is  married  and  resides  in  Assumption;  John 
F.,  Mary,  Lulu,  Myrtle  and  Florence  Belinda.  The 
family  is  widely  known  throughout  the  commun- 
ity, and  its  members  rank  high  in  social  circles. 
.  Mr.  Hutchinson  has  voted  with  the  Democratic 
party  since  attaining  his  majority,  and  is  a  warm 
advocate  of  its  principles.  He  takes  quite  an 
active  part  in  politics  and  has  held  a  number  of 
local  positions  of  honor  and  trust.  He  was  first 
elected  City  Marshal,  and  served  in  that  office  for 
five  consecutive  years.  He  has  also  been  Col- 
lector and  Constable,  and  is  now  serving  his  third 
term  in  the  office  of  Mayor  of  Assumption.  In 
whatever  position  he  has  been  elected  he  has 
proved  a  capable  and  efficient  officer,  prompt  and 
faithful  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties.  By  many 
elections  his  fellow-townsmen  have  manifested 
their  trust  in  him,  and  it  has  never  been  betrayed. 


Mr.  Hutchinson  is  a  member  of  the  Odd  Fellows' 
society  and  is  a  Royal  Arch  Mason,  belonging  to 
Pana  Chapter  No.  115,  R.  A.  M.,  of  Pana.  He 
has  represented  the  Blue  Lodge  in  the  Grand 
Lodge.  His  wife  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  He  started  out  in  life  empty-handed, 
but  though  he  had  no  capital  he  was  ambitious 
and  energetic  and  determined  to  win  success.  A 
wish  to  succeed  and  well-directed  efforts  are  all 
that  are  necessary  to  gain  success,  and  as  Mr. 
Hutchinson  possessed  these  he  has  worked  his  way 
upward  to  a  position  of  affluence.  He  and  his 
estimable  wife  well  deserve  the  high  regard  in 
which  they  are  held  throughout  the  community, 
and  it  is  with  pleasure  that  we  present  to  our 
readers  this  record  of  their  lives. 


NDREW  T.  MICHAELS,  who  holds  the 
position  of  freight  agent  on  the  Ohio  & 
Mississippi  Railroad  at  Pana, claims  Mary- 
land as  the  State  of  his  nativity.  He  was 
born  in  Frederick  County,  May  28,  1841,  and  is  a 
son  of  Samuel  A.  and  Sarah  A.  (Jenkins)  Michaels, 
who  were  also  natives  of  the  same  State.  The 
paternal  grandfather  also  bore  the  name  of  An- 
drew Michaels.  He  was  born  in  Maryland,  and 
was  of  German  parentage.  Throughout  his  life 
he  followed  agricultural  pursuits,  and  died  on  his 
farm  in  his  native  State  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
seven.  The  maternal  grandfather,  Theodore  Jen- 
kins, was  of  Irish  lineage,  and  he  too  was  a  Mary- 
land farmer. 

Samuel  Michaels,  however,  followed  other  pur- 
suits. He  served  as  freight  and  ticket  agent  for 
the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  for  many  years,  and 
was  then  on  the  Indianapolis  &  St.  Louis  Railroad, 
now  the  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  <fe  St. 
Louis,  at  St.  Mary's,  Ind.,  where  he  died  in  the 
year  1891,  at  the  age  of  seventy-one.  His  wife 
passed  away  in  1887,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight. 
Both  were  members  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Mr. 
Michaels  served  as  Constable  in  Virginia,  and  was 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Justice  of  the  Peace  in  St.  Mary's.  Of  their  five 
sons  and  eight  daughters,  ten  are  now  living:  Our 
subject,  and  Aloysius  S.,  Mary,  Anna,  Regina, 
Daniel  T.,  Joseph  P.,  Cecelia  (wife  of  Charles 
Hagen,of  St.  Mary's,  Ind.),  Margaret  and  William 
A.  The  eldest  brother  is  a  wealthy  farmer  of 
Assumption.  Daniel  T.  is  ex-Sheriff  of  Christian 
County  and  resides  in  Taylorville,  where  he  owns 
considerable  real  estate  and  is  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  pressed  brick.  Joseph  P.  is  an 
engineer  on  the  Ohio  &  Mississippi  Railroad  and 
resides  in  Pana.  William  A.  is  a  general  mer- 
chant of  St.  Mary's,  Ind.  Three  sisters,  Mary, 
Regina  and  Margaret,  are  Sisters  of  Providence 
in  St.  Mary's  Institute,  of  St.  Mary's  Ind. 

Our  subject  spent  the  first  fifteen  years  of  his 
life  in  the  three  Stales  of  Maryland,  Pennsylvania 
and  Virginia.  In  1856,  he  removed  to  Stephen- 
son  County,  111.,  with  his  parents,  and  worked  on 
a  section  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  for  a 
short  time.  In  June,  1859,  he  was  appointed  freight 
and  ticket  agent  at  Eleroy,  on  the  Illinois  Central, 
which  position  lie  filled  about  sixteen  months, 
when  he  came  to  Christian  County,  and  joined  his 
parents  in  Assumption,  whither  they  had  removed 
a  few  months  previous.  There  he  did  the  work 
in  the  freight  and  ticket  office,  while  his  father, 
who  was  the  regularly  appointed  agent,  attended 
to  his  landed  interests. 

Mr  Michaels  was  married  November  23,  1863, 
to  Mrs.  Adelaide  A.  Williams,  daughter  of  H.  B. 
and  Olive  (Little)  Higbee.of  New  York,  who  were 
then  residents  of  Michigan.  Four  children  have 
been  born  of  this  union,  two  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters, namely:  Sarah  Frankie;  Emma  Leota,  wife 
of  George  W.  Gorman,  who  is  now  clerking  in  De- 
ment, 111.;  Andrew  Lee  and  Freddie  E.  The 
father  of  this  family  was  reared  in  the  Catholic 
faith,  and  his  wife  holds  membership  with  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  Socially,  he  is  connected 
with  Mound  Lodge  No.  222;  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  of 
Taylorville,  and  in  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

From  Assumption  Mr.  Michaels  removed  to 
Taylorville,  and  was  freight  and  ticket  agent  for 
the  Springfield  &  Illinois  Southeastern  Railroad 
Company,  now  the  Ohio  &  Mississippi,  where  he 
remained  until  1877.  In  that  year  he  came  to 


Pana  and  took  charge  of  the  freight  office  for  the 
same  road.  This  position  he  has  filled  continu- 
ously since,  a  high  testimonial  in  favor  of  his 
faithfulness,  fidelity  and  prompt  discharge  of  duty. 


JAMES  RILEY  ANDERSON  is  connected 
with  one  of  Taylorville's  leading  industries, 
being  a  partner  in  the  Anderson  Brothers 
Brick  and  Tile  Factory,  and  manager  of 
the  south  yard.  He  has  carried  on  business  along 
this  line  for  fifteen  years,  or  since  1878,  when,  in 
connection  with  his  brothers,  he  began  operations 
on  a  small  scale.  The  products  of  their  factory 
meeting  the  popular  idea  of  what  such  articles 
should  be,  they  have  succeeded  in  building  up 
what  is  now  a  very  large  trade.  They  own  two 
extensive  yards,  furnish  employment  to  many 
hands,  and  are  now  at  the  head  of  one  of  the  most 
prominent  business  interests  of  Christian  County. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  in  Greene 
County,  Ind.,  March  26,  1856.  His  grandfather, 
William  Anderson,  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  and 
from  there  emigrated  to  the  Hoosier  State,  where 
his  son,  William  Anderson,  the  father  of  our  sub- 
ject, was  born  and  reared.  Having  arrived  at 
years  of  maturity,  he  married  Miss  Nancy  Turner, 
a  native  of  Indiana,  as  was  also  her  father.  Six 
children  were  born  of  this  union,  all  sons:  Cyrus; 
William  T.,  now  deceased;  Arch;  Samuel;  James R.; 
and  Charles  T.,  also  deceased.  When  a  3'oung  man 
the  father  of  this  family  engaged  in  clerking,  and 
also  acted  as  steamboat  pilot  on  White  River.  It 
was  in  1858  that  he  came  to  Illinois,  and  located 
twelve  miles  south  of  Pana  with  his  wife  and  six 
children.  His  death  occurred  shortly  afterward, 
but  his  wife  still  survives  him.  She  is  a  member 
of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  to  which 
Mr.  Anderson  also  belonged. 

James  R.  Anderson,  whose  name  heads  this 
record,  was  a  babe  of  only  two  years  when  his  pa- 
rents came  to  Illinois.  The  days  of  his  boyhood 
and  youth  were  passed  in  this  county.  When  a 


384 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Ind  of  ten  summers,  he  came  with  his  mother  and 
the  family  to  Taylorville,  where  he  hassince  made 
his  home.  His  education  was  acquired  in  its  pub- 
lic schools,  and  his  history  has  been  identified  with 
that  of  the  community. 

The  lady  who  now  bears  the  name  of  Mrs.  An- 
derson was  in  her  maidenhood  Miss  Mary  A. 
Brown,  daughter  of  J.  W.  and  Rebecca  (Gather- 
wood)  Brown.  The  marriage  ceremony  was  per- 
formed on  the  21st  of  March,  1883,  and  their  un- 
ion has  been  blessed  with  a  family  of  five  children, 
four  of  whom  are  yet  living:  Ralph,  Bessie,  Roscoe 
and  Essie.  Eva,  the  third  child,  died  at  the  age 
of  four  years. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Anderson  are  members  of  the 
Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  and  are  num- 
bered among  the  most  highly  respected  citizens  of 
this  community.  In  politics,  he  is  a  supporter  of 
Republican  principles.  He  owns  a  fine  farm  of 
one  hundred  and  seventy-two  acres,  south  of  Tay- 
lorville, which  yields  to  him  a  good  income,  be- 
sides his  own  residence  in  the  city,  and  the  one  in 
which  his  mother  resides.  The  Anderson  Broth- 
ers are  among  the  most  prominent  business  men 
of  the  community,  and  may  truly  be  called  self- 
made  men,  for  their  father  died  when  they  were 
quite  young,  and  they  started  out  in  life  empty- 
handed,  so  that  the  success  that  has  crowned  their 
efforts  is  but  the  result  of  their  own  achievements. 


JOHN  M.  COLEMAN,  deceased,  was  born  on 
the  3 1st  of  January,  1816,  in  Virginia,  where 
the  first  fifteen  years  of  his  life  were  passed. 
On  the  expiration  of  that  period  his  home 
was  changed  to  the  West,  where  he  lived  for  many 
years.     He  first  made  a  location    in  Indiana,  and 
became  a  prominent  and  influential  citizen  of  the 
community  in  which  he  resided.     He   served   as 
Sheriff  of  Owen  County  and  filled  other  official  po- 
sitions with  credit  to  himself  and  to  the  satisfac- 
tion   of   his   constituents.     While    living   in    the 


Hoosier  State,  he  was  twice  married,  and  became 
the  father  of  two  children.  His  daughter,  Mrs. 
Samuel  Clark,  is  now  living  near  Assumption, in 
Christian  County. 

In  1867,  Mr.  Coleman  left  his  home  in  Indiana 
and  came  to  Illinois.  From  that  year  until  1874, 
he  made  his  home  in  South  Fork  Township,  Chris- 
tian County.  On  the  llth  of  September,  1867,  in 
Decatur,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Mrs.  Lydia 
J.  Van deveer  widow  of  Charles  Vandeveer,  who 
was  a  cousin  of  H.  M.  Vandeveer.  His  parents 
were  George  and  Jennie  (Spears)  Vandeveer. 
Charles  was  born  March  1,  1816,  in  Orange 
Count}',  Ind.,  and  on  the  same  day  the  birth  of 
his  cousin,  the  Judge,  occurred.  He  came  to 
Christian  County  with  his  parents  in  1829,  be- 
ing at  that  time  about  fourteen  years  of  age. 
The  family  settled  in  South  Fork  Township, 
where  the  father  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
His  children  were  Charles.  Henry,  Aaron  and  Joel, 
but  all  are  now  deceased. 

Charles  Vandeveer  and  Lydia  J.  Hill  were  mar- 
ried December  12,  1852.  He  followed  farming  for 
some  time,  and  then  removed  to  Pana,  where  he 
died  April  1,  1865.  After  his  death,  Mrs.  Van- 
deveer returned  to  the  farm.  Her  parents,  John 
and  Elizabeth  (Reed)  Hill,  located  in  Sangamon 
County  in  1836,  and  the  following  year  removed 
to  what  is  now  Christian  County,  settling  in  Bear 
Creek  Township,  near  Palmer.  Her  parents  died 
at  the  home  of  their  daughter,  Mrs.  Coleman,  the 
father  passing  away  September  25,  1863,  while  his 
wife  died  on  the  5th  of  February  of  the  same  year. 
Mrs.  Coleman  was  the  seventh  in  order  of  birth  in 
their  family  of  ten  children,  but  she  has  only  two 
brothers  now  living:  John  Tilford.  of  Bear  Creek 
Township;  and  William,  a  resident  of  Sangamon 
County. 

For  a  number  of  years  after  his  marriage,  Mr. 
Coleman  followed  farming,  but  during  the  last 
years  of  his  life  he  lived  retired.  He  was  a  public- 
spirited  and  progressive  citizen  and  manifested  a 
commendable  interest  in  everything  pertaining  to 
the  welfare  of  the  community  in  which  he  made 
his  home.  Those  who  knew  him  esteemed  him 
highly  for  his  many  excellencies  of  character  and 
sterling  worth.  He  passed  away  August  14, 1889, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


and  his  loss  was  mourned  by  many  friends.  Mrs. 
Coleman  now  makes  her  home  in  Taylorville,  and 
her  niece  Mattie,  daughter  of  Newton  D.  Hill,  is 
now  living  with  her.  She  is  a  member  of  the 
Christian  Church,  a  most  estimable  lady,  and  a 
worthy  representative  of  one  of  the  honored  pio- 
neer families  of  Christian  County. 


JAMES   L.   HUFMAN,  who  carries  on  gen- 
eral farming  and  stock-raising   on    section 
28,  Pana  Township,  claims  Missouri  as  the 
State  of  his  nativity.     He  was  born  in  the 
city  of  St.  Louis,  May  2,  1825.     His  father,  Sam- 
uel  Hufman,  was  a  native  of   Jefferson   County, 
Va.,  and  in  1820  emigrated  Westward  to  St.  Louis. 
He  married  Matilda  Jones,  who  was  also  born  in 
the  Old   Dominion.     Removing  to  New  Orleans, 
he  there  spent  his  last  days,  and   his  wife  died   in 
St.    Clair   County,  111.,  at  the  age  of   sixty-five. 
Their  family  numbered  only  two  children,  and  the 
younger  son  died  in  early  childhood. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch,  who  is  the  only  sur- 
vivor of  the  family,  spent  the  first  twelve  years  of 
his  life  in  his  native  city,  and  then  accompanied 
his  mother  on  her  removal  to  St.  Clair  County, 
III.  They  located  on  a  farm  of  raw  prairie  land, 
twenty-four  miles  from  Belleville,  where  our  sub- 
ject worked  by  the  month  for  $8.  Saving  his 
money,  he  was  at  length  enabled  to  purchase  some 
wild  land  for  himself,  and  began  farming  in  his 
own  interest.  Not  a  furrow  had  been  turned  or 
an  improvement  made  upon  the  place,  but  his  la- 
bors soon  transformed  the  undeveloped  tract  into 
rich  and  fertile  fields.  For  eighteen  years  he 
lived  upon  that  place  and  successfully  carried  on 
agricultural  pursuits.  Selling  out  in  1866,  he  then 
came  to  Christian  Count}',  and  purchased  the  farm 
on  which  he  now  resides.  It  was  also  unimproved, 
and  the  arduous  toil  of  developing  a  new  farm  he 
underwent  again.  There  were  no  buildings,  and 
he  erected  a  small  house,  14x18  feet,  into  which  he 
at  once  moved.  To  this  he  has  since  added,  until 
19 


he  now  has  a  fine  two-story  frame  residence,  val- 
ued at  $3,000'  In  1885,  he  erected  a  large  barn, 
108x68  feet,  at  a  cost  of  $1,500.  This  is  covered 
with  an  iron  roof.  The  farm  is  six  hundred  acres 
in  extent,  and  is  a  valuable  and  desirable  tract. 
Mr.  Hufman  now  rents  the  greater  part  of  it  while 
he  lives  retired.  His  wife  also  owns  eighty  acres 
in  Pana  Township. 

Our  subject  was  married  January  22,  1850,  to 
Catherine  Beedle,  who  was  born  in  St.  Clair 
Count}*,  111.  They  became  the  parents  of  nine 
children,  but  only  five  are  now  living:  Angeline, 
wife  of  James  Woodsides,  of  Pana;  Esther,  Emma, 
Joseph  and  Alonzo,  who  are  still  at  home.  Those 
who  have  passed  away  are  James,  Matilda,  Nancy 
and  George. 

Mr.  Hufman  exercises  his  right  of  franchise  in 
support  of  the  Republican  party,  but  has  never 
been  an  aspirant  for  public  olfice.  He  is  truly  a 
self-made  man.  All  the  education  he  acquired 
was  obtained  through  his  own  efforts,  he  earning 
the  money  with  which  he  paid  his  tuition.  He  got 
his  start  in  life  by  working  as  a  farm  hand  at  $8 
per  month.  From  that  humble  beginning  he  has 
risen  to  a  position  among  Christian  County's 
most  substantial  citizens,  and  of  his  success  he  may 
justly  be  proud.  The  key  of  his  success  is  work. 
He  has  labored  with  untiring  zeal,  and  his  indus- 
try, perseverance  and  determination  have  brought 
him  a  handsome  competence. 


;p^  AMUEL  ANDERSON,  a  member  of  the 
%^  well-known  firm  of  Anderson  Bros.,  ex- 
Ift^Jw  tensive  brick  manufacturers  and  eontrac- 
^  tors  and  builders  of  Taylorville,  has  been 
connected  with  this  business  since  a  lad  of  thir- 
teen years,  for  his  uncle  was  then  owner  of  a 
yard,  and  in  course  of  time  he  succeeded  to  an  in- 
terest in  the  same.  His  history  is  the  life  record 
of  a  self-made  man.  He  was  born  December  3, 
1853,  near  Bloomfield,  Greene  County,  Ind.,  and 


386 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


when  he  was  only  three  years  of  age  the  family  re- 
moved to  Montgomery  County,  111., locating  upon 
a  farm.  His  father,  William  Anderson,  was  a  na-  ' 
tivc  of  Kentucky.  While  en  route  for  Illinois  he 
was  taken  sick,  and  died  a  few  days  after  reaching 
his  destination,  leaving  his  widow  with  six  chil- 
dren to  care  for  and  support. 

Mrs.  Anderson  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Nancy 
Turner,  and  is  a  native  of  Tennessee.  At  her 
husband's  death  her  eldest  child  was  only  ten 
years  of  age.  They  had  secured  forty  acres  of 
land,  and  she  began  to  make  a  home  for  her  chil- 
dren, resolving  to  keep  the  family  together  if 
possible.  In  order  to  supply  their  needs  and 
wants,  she  engaged  in  weaving  carpets  and  jeans, 
and  thus  met  the  expenses  of  the  family.  As  soon 
as  the  boys  were  old  enough  they  would  secure 
work  with  neighboring  farmers,  and  thus  the  fam- 
ily income  was  somewhat  increased.  Upon  the 
home  farm  Mrs.  Anderson  remained  until  1865. 
In  the  spring  of  the  following  year  she  came  to 
Taylorville,  where  she  is  now  living  at  the  age 
of  sixty-five  years.  Hers  has  been  a  noble  life, 
and  her  labors  in  behalf  of  her  children  will  never 
be  forgotten.  While  providing  for  the  temporal 
wants  of  her  children,  she  also  instilled  into  their 
minds  lessons  of  honor  and  morality,  and  she  is 
now  blessed  with  the  knowledge  that  her  sons 
are  honored  and  respected  wherever  they  go.  She 
is  a  faithful  and  consistent  member  of  the  Cum- 
berland Presbyterian  Church. 

The  second  son  of  the  family,  William  T.  An- 
derson, purchased  a  brickyard  in  1872,  but  after 
carrying  it  on  a  few  months  his  death  occurred, 
in  1873,  and  the  business  was  closed  up.  Charles 
T.,  the  youngest  son,  died  just  ten  days  before 
his  brother,  of  the  same  disease — cerebro-spinal 
mengitis. 

As  before  stated,  at  the  age  of  thirteen  years, 
Samuel  Anderson  began  working  in  a  brickyard, 
and  for  some  time  continued  in  the  employ  of  his 
uncle,  J.  R.  Turner.  His  brothers  also  learned 
this  business,  and  after  u  number  of  years  they 
succeeded  to  the  business  owned  by  their  uncle. 
In  the  fall  of  1873  Samuel  and  Cyrus  went  to 
Denver,  Colo.,  where  they  engaged  in  laying 
brick.  In  1880  the  firm  of  Anderson  Bros,  was 


established,  composed  of  Samuel,  Archelaus  and 
James  R.  They  began  the  manufacture  of  brick 
and  tile  with  a  capital  of  about  $3,000,  and  dur- 
ing the  first  year  manufactured  about  seventy- 
five  thousand  tile  and  one  million  brick.  They 
now  have  about  $15,000  invested  in  the  business, 
and  during  the  past  year  they  made  one  million 
eight  hundred  thousand  brick  and  about  five  hun- 
dred thousand  tile.  They  operate  two  factories, 
one  situated  on  the  east  side  of  the  town  near  the 
coal  shaft,  and  the  other  to  the  southeast.  With 
these  are  twelve  and  sixteen  acres  of  clay,  respect- 
ively. Employment  is  furnished  to  about  twenty- 
five  hands,  and  all  of  the  latest  improved  machin- 
ery is  used.  The  brick  is  burned  in  both  up  and 
down  draft  kilns.  The  business  is  now  established 
on  a  solid  financial  basis  and  is  constantly  in- 
creasing. 

The  firm  of  Anderson  Bros,  is  also  engaged  in 
contracting  and  building,  and  does  an  annual  busi- 
ness amounting  to  about  $15,000.  Besides  doing 
brick  work,  they  also  contract  for  the  entire 
building,  and  have  erected  some  of  the  most  im- 
portant structures  in  this  community,  including 
the  High  School  building  at  a  cost  of  $23,000,  the 
new  double  brick  block  at  the  southeast  corner  of 
the  square  at  a  cost  of  $11,500,  and  the  brick  work 
on  the  new  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  The 
members  of  the  firm  are  men  of  good  business 
ability,  practical  and  progressive,  and,  as  a  result 
of  their  enterprise  and  labor,  have  achieved  suc- 
cess. 

On  the  29th  of  May,  1890,  was  celebrated  the 
marriage  of  Samuel  Anderson  and  Miss  Emma 
Slater,  daughter  of  Dr.  L.  B.  and  Sarah  Slater. 
Their  union  has  been  blessed  with  one  son,  Everett 
Slater,  who  was  born  December  26,  1891.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Anderson  are  worthy  members  of  the 
Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  and  in  social 
circles  they  hold  an  enviable  position.  Our  sub- 
ject also  belongs  to  the  Modern  Woodmen  of 
Ameiica.  In  connection  with  his  other  business  in- 
terests, he  is  also  Vice-Presideut  of  the  Taylorville 
Coal  Company,  was  one  of  its  incorporators,  and 
since  its  organization  has  been  one  of  its  board  of 
managers,  consisting  of  three  members.  To  this 
enterprise  he  has  given  considerable  time  and  at- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


387 


tention,  and  it  is  one  of  the  leading  concerns  of 
the  city.  To  such  men  as  Anderson  Bros,  the 
prosperity  of  the  town  is  due,  aud  they  are  num- 
bered among  its  valued  citizens. 


1  SOM  ADAMS,  an  extensive  farmer  of  Prairie- 
ton  Township,  is  one  of  the  honored  early  set- 
tlers of  Christian  County.  His  home  is  on 
section  21,  where  lie  has  resided  since  1856,  hav- 
ing succeeded  to  a  portion  of  his  father's  old 
homestead.  He  was  a  lad  of  only  five  years  when 
his  parents  permanently  located  here,  and  thus  he 
has  passed  over  half  a  century  in  this  immediate 
locality. 

Our  subject  was  born  in  Montgomery.  County, 
Ky.,  February  21, 1831,  his  parents  being  Allerton 
and  Elizabeth  (Gordon)  Adams,  who  were  both 
likewise  from  the  Blue  Grass  region.  The  father 
followed  agricultural  pursuits  in  his  native  State, 
and  removed  to  Illinois  in  1833,  spending  a  few 
vears  in  Sangamon  County.  In  1836  he  made  a 
settlement  in  what  is  now  known  as  Adams  Grove, 
this  county,  where  he  developed  a  large  farm  and 
reared  his  family. 

Isom  Adams  is  the  eldest  son  and  second  in  or- 
der of  birth  in  a  family  of  seven  sons  and  three 
daughters,  who  with  the  exception  of  one  brother 
all  grew  to  manhood  and  womanhood.  Our  sub- 
ject's youth  was  passed  on  his  father's  homestead, 
where  he  remained  until  grown.  In  1851  he  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Elizabeth  Jacobs,  and 
for  five  years  after  this  event  he  continued  on  his 
father's  farm.  In  1856  he  removed  to  the  place 
which  he  still  cultivates.  As  the  years  passed,  he 
added  to  his  original  inheritance,  until  he  now 
possesses  over  seven  hundred  acres  of  valuable 
and  fertile  land.  His  farm  is  one  of  the  most 
thrifty  and  well-kept  places  in  the  county,  and  has 
been  entirely  developed  from  its  virgin  state  by 
the  owner. 

Mis.  Adams  was  called  from  this  life  in  Janu- 
ary, 1854,  and  left  two  children,  namely:  Nancy 


Isabel,  now  deceased,  who  was  the  wife  of  Will- 
iam Gordon,  of  Macon  County;  and  one  child 
who  died  in  infancy.  In  April,  1858,  Mr.  Adams 
was  again  married,  Miss  Lydia  Bilyeu  becoming 
his  wife.  She  is  a  daughter  of  John  Bilyeu,  one 
of  the  honored  earty  settlers  of  this  region.  Mrs. 
Adams  is  a  native  of  Sangamon  Count}',  111.,  and 
by  her  marriage  became  the  mother  of  thirteen  chil- 
dren. The  two  eldest  are  deceased,  Allington  dying 
in  infancy,  and  Josiah  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years. 
Elizabeth  is  the  wife  of  George  Crews;  John  is  a 
well-to-do  farmer  of  Christian  County;  Lucy  J.  is 
the  wife  of  James  Workman;  Sallie  Ann  is  the  wife 
of  Alexander  Mathews,  also  of  this  county;  Viren- 
da  is  the  wife  of  Jacob  Bilyeu ;  Wilbur  is  a  prosper- 
ous fanner  of  Macon  County;  James  is  assisting  in 
carrying  on  the  homestead;  and  Minerva,  Thomas 
J.,  Malinda  and  Isom  complete  the  surviving  mem- 
bers of  the  family. 

Mrs.  Adams  is  a  member  of  the  Christian  Church, 
in  which  she  is  an  earnest  worker.  Our  subject 
has  always  been  known  as  a  friend  to  education, 
and  is  a  firm  believer  in  our  excellent  public- 
school  system.  He  served  for  a  number  of  years 
as  a  member  of  the  School  Boavd,  but  has  never 
cared  for  political  preferment.  For  over  half  a 
century  he  has  taken  his  share  in  forwarding  all 
enterprises  tending  to  the  development  and  good 
of  this  section,  and  is  favorably  known  in  this  and 
adjoining  counties.  He  and  his  estimable  wife  en- 
joy the  friendship  and  high  esteem  of  their  many 
friends  and  neighbors,  and  are  well  worthy  to  have 
their  names  placed  in  this  biographical  record  of 
representative  citizens. 


JAMES  RIDGE  is  one  of  the  most  enterpris- 
ing and   well-to-do  farmers  of  Assumption 
Township,  his  home  being   on   section  21. 
He  is    a  native   of    England,  having    been 
born   in    Devonshire,  January    11,  1829,  and   is  a 
son  of  James  and  Charity  (Lewerthy)  Ridge,  botli 


388 


POETRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


likewise  natives  of  Devonshire.  Our  subject  grew 
to  manhood  in  England,  having  fairly  good  edu- 
cational advantages.  Having  arrived  at  the  age 
of  twenty-two  years,  he  took  passage  on  a  vessel 
bound  from  Plymouth  to  Quebec,  and  arrived  at 
his  destination  May  5,  1851.  He  proceeded  di- 
rectly to  Illinois,  and  joined  relatives  in  Greene 
County.  His  wife's  brother,  Richard  Tucker, 
had  located  in  1844  in  the  Prairie  State,  and  this 
influenced  our  subject's  choice  of  a  settlement. 
For  the  first  year  he  worked  as  a  farm  hand,  and 
then  rented  land,  which  he  engaged  in  farming 
for  eight  years. 

In  1859  Mr.  Ridge  left  Greene  County  and  lo- 
cated in  Christian  County,  settling  on  a  tract  of 
land  he  had  purchased  the  fall  previous.  This 
consisted  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of 
wild  land,  with  only  a  log  cabin  on  it  in  tlie 
way  of  improvement,  and  was  the  home  of  the 
Ridge  family  for  several  years.  With  character- 
istic energy,  our  subject  proceeded  to  clear  and 
cultivate  the  farm,  and  after  some  years  had 
passed  he  bought  an  adjoining  forty  acres,  now 
having  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  within  the 
boundaries  of  lias  farm.  It  is  all  under  good 
cultivation,  has  a  commodious  residence,  good 
barns  and  outbuildings.  The  house  is  about  forty 
rods  back  from  the  main  road,  and  the  entire  farm 
is  fenced  with  a  neat  and  well-trimmed  osage 
hedge.  There  is  also  a  beautiful  grove  of  forest 
trees,  which  were  planted  by  Mr.  Ridge,  and  these 
trees  now  measure  nearly  two  feet  in  diameter. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Ridge  and  Mrs.  Sarah 
Sage  was  celebrated  in  Devonshire,  England,  in 
the  spring  of  1851.  Two  children  graced  the 
union:  David,  whose  sketch  appears  on  another 
page  of  this  work;  and  Sarah  A.,  wife  of  William 
Moreton,  who  is  engaged  in  fanning  on  the  Ridge 
homestead.  They  have  a  daughter,  Mrs.  M.  E. 
Litt,  who  resides  in  Assumption.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Ridge  and  daughter  are  members  of  the  Baptist 
Church. 

Since  becoming  a  voter  Mr.  Ridge  has  been 
identified  with  the  Republican  party,  and  cast  his 
ballot  for  Abraham  Lincoln.  He  has  never  de- 
sired official  recognition,  but  has  preferred  to  de- 
vote his  entire  time  and  attention  to  his  farm.  He 


was  one  of  the  first  Directors  of  the  school  dis- 
trict, and  served  as  a  member  of  the  School  Board 
for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century.  Largely  through 
his  influence  the  first  schoolhouse  in  the  district 
was  erected.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Assumption 
Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company,  and  was  elected 
President  of  the  Association  in  January,  1893, 
after  having  acted  in  the  capacity  of  Treasurer 
for  fifteen  years.  During  the  thirty-four  years 
which  have  elapsed  since  his  settlement  in  Illinois 
he  has  seen  great  changes,  and  has  assisted  mate- 
rially in  its  welfare.  He  is  a  man  of  pride  and 
integrity  and  manly  worth,  and  is  held  in  the 
highest  regard  by  nil  who  come  in  contact  with 
him.  In  1883,  accompanied  by  his  daughter,  he 
returned  to  England  and  spent  several  months 
visiting  old  friends  and  the  scenes  of  his  youth. 


JOHN  S.  HAYWARD,  who  was  one  of  the 
largest   land-owners  and  one  of  the    fore- 
most citizens,  not  only  of  Hillsboro,  but  of 
Illinois,  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  hav- 
ing been  born  at  Bridgewater    in  the   year  1803. 
The  family  is  of  English  extraction,  and  the  pub- 
lished genealogy  contains  accounts  of  the  family 
dating  back  to    1638.     John    S.  was  educated   in 
Massachusetts,  and  for  several  years  after  complet- 
ing his  scholastic  course   acted    as  accountant   in 
one  of  the  most  extensive  business  houses  of  Bos- 
ton, where  he  gained  the  entire  confidence  of   his 
employer. 

It  was  in  1832  that  our  subject  came  to  Illinois, 
and  two  years  later  he  located  in  Hillsboro, 
Montgomery  County,  where  he  engaged  in  the 
mercantile  business.  After  a  short  but  eminently 
successful  and  honorable  career  as  a  merchant, 
Mr.  Hay  ward  turned  his  attention  to  the  more 
congenial  occupation  of  operating  in  lands.  This 
he  pursued  on  a  most  magnificent  scale,  his  trans- 
actions covering  the  princely  and  unprecedented 
amount  of  seventy-five  thousand  acres.  The  vast 
wealth  which  rewarded  his  uncommon  sagacity 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD 


found  investment  in  the  promotion  of  all  worthy 
enterprises  and  in  the  most  unobtrusive  and  kindly 
charities.  But  it  was  not  as  a  millionaire  that  he 
was  most  distinguished,  for  in  every  relation  of 
life  lie  played  his  role  well  and  won  the  esteem  of 
all  with  whom  lie  came  in  contact.  Upright  and 
unassuming  as  a  citizen,  sympathetic  to  an  un- 
common degree,  of  refined  and  most  elevated  tastes, 
an  affectionate  husband,  a  kind  and  indulgent 
father,  a  generous  friend  and  most  exemplary 
Christian  man,  his  pure  soul  knew  no  guile,  and 
it  may  truly  be  said  that  he  was  an  honor  to  his 
race,  and  an  example  of  whom  any  community 
might  well  be  proud. 

In  1840  Mr.  Hayward  married  Miss  Harriet  F. 
Comstock,  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  by  whom  he  had 
three  children  who  grew  to  maturity,  but  Will- 
iam Eugene,  the  eldest,  is  the  only  one  now  living. 
Mr.  Hay  ward's  death  occurred  at  his  residence  in 
Hillsboro,  May  3,  1869.  His  wife  survived  him 
five  years,  dying  in  Pana  in  1874.  In  educational 
matters  Mr.  Ilaj'ward  alwa^ys  took  a  deep  inter- 
est, and  gave  his  personal  attention  to  the  fur- 
therance of  schemes  for  their  welfare.  Believing 
in  the  education  of  the  people,  he  was  an  early  and 
ever  a  strong  advocate  of  the  free-school  system, 
and,  though  paying  yearly  large  sums  in  the  way 
of  taxes  for  the  support  of  schools  in  which  he 
could  have  no  personal  interest,  he  always  did  it 
cheerfully. 


&jjl  NTHONY  ALDERSON,  one  of  the  exten 
&/  I  sivc  hind-owners  of  I'ana  Township,  re- 
]|n*  siding  on  section  26,  is  a  native  of  York- 
1^'  shire,  England,  and  the  date  of  his  birth 
is  February  9,  1824.  His  father,  Anthony  Alder- 
son,  was  born  in  the  same  locality,  and  his  occupa- 
tion was  that  of  mining.  He  married  Ann  Sun- 
ter,  who  died  in  England  at  the  age  of  fifty-four. 
In  18o2,  he  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  America,  and 
located  in  Ohio,  where  he  spent  his  remaining 
days,  passing  away  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight. 


Our  subject  is  the  youngest  of  three  sons  in  a 
family  of  eleven  children.  At  the  age  of  seven 
years  he  began  wo/king  jn  a  lead  mine, and  a  year 
later  was  transferred  to  a  coal  mine  eighteen  hun- 
dred feet  below  the  surface  of  the  earth.  On 
reaching  the  mine,  he  had  to  go  about  three  miles 
to  where  the  digging  was  done.  Between  the  ages 
of  seven  and  twenty-five  years  our  subject  was 
thus  employed.  He  then  determined  to  seek  a 
home  elsewhere,  hoping  to  better  his  financial  con- 
dition. Crossing  the  broad  Atlantic  to  America, 
he  went  to  Ohio,  where  he  again  followed  coal 
mining  for  two  years.  On  the  expiration  of  that 
period,  he  purchased  land  in  Tuscarawas  County, 
Ohio,  buying  eighty  acres,  upon  which  lie  opened 
a  coal  mine.  He  had  less  than  $100  at  the  time 
of  his  purchase,  but  in  two  years  he  had  cleared 
$4,000.  At  length,  in  the  spring  of  1864,  he  sold 
out  and  came  to  Christian  County,  111.,  and  pur- 
chased eighty  acres  of  land,  part  of  his  present 
farm.  Then  he  opened  a  coal  mine  on  forty  acres 
in  Shelby  County,  which  he  carried  on  for  some 
time. 

Ere  leaving  his  native  land,  Mr.  Alderson  was 
married,  in  1844,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  to  Mary 
Moore,  who  was  also  born  in  Yorkshire,  England. 
In  1891  he  was  called  upon  to  mourn  the  loss  of 
his  wife,  who  was  called  to  her  final  rest  on  the 
30th  of  November.  Seven  children  had  been  born 
of  that  union:  Thomas,  now  a  prominent  farmer 
and  stock-dealer  of  Shelby  County,  owning  seven 
hundred  acres  of  laud;  Anthony,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  seventeen  years;  Dr.  John  J.,  a  well-known 
physician  of  Chicago;  William  M.  C.,  who  died  at 
the  age  of  twenty-five;  Albert  M.,  a  leading  agri- 
culturist of  Christian  County,  who  owns  eighty 
acres  in  this  county  and  five  hundred  acres  in 
Fayette  County;  Sarah  Alice,  who  keeps  house 
for  her  father;  and  Charles  H.,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  seventeen  months. 

The  home  farm  comprises  three  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  of  rich  and  highly  cultivated  land, 
and  in  all  its  appointments  it  is  complete.  Mr. 
Alderson  also  owns  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
in  Shelby  County,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  acres  in  Fayette  County.  At  one  time  his 
landed  possessions  were  much  more  extensive,  but 


390 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  EECORD. 


be  has  since  sold  a  considerable  portion  of  it.  He 
now  owns  a  fine  bouse  of  fifteen  rooms  in  Pana, 
which  he  has  rented.  He  has  been  very  successful 
in  his  business  interests  since  coining  to  Christian 
County,  and  has  now  laid  aside  business  cares,  his 
income  from  his  farms  making  it  possible  for  him 
to  live  a  retired  life.  He  has  met  with  many  re- 
verses, and  where  many  another  man  would  have 
been  discouraged  be  has  kept  on  his  way  with  a 
courage  and  determination  that  have  ultimately 
brought  him  prosperity.  His  example  in  this  par- 
ticular is  certainly  well  worthy  of  emulation.  In 
politics,  he  is  a  supporter  of  Republican  principles 
and  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  He  is  a  man  of  kindly  and  benevolent 
impulses,  and  throughout  the  community  has  a 
wide  circle  of  friends,  who  esteem  him  highly  for 
bis  many  excellencies  of  character. 


bEWIS  R.  HEDRICK,  one  of  the  honored 
veterans  of  the  late  war,  is  now  prominent 
in  business  circles  in  Taylorville,  being 
proprietor  of  one  of  its  leading  stores.  He  car- 
ries a  large  stock  of  groceries,  queens  ware,  stoves, 
hardware,  tinware,  etc.,  and  is  enjoying  a  con- 
stantly increasing  trade.  From  the  first  he  has 
received  a  liberal  patronage,  and  by  his  fair  deal- 
ing and  earnest  desire  to  please  his  customers  he 
has  gained  their  confidence  and  good-will.  His 
success  is  certainly  well  merited. 

Mr.  Hedrick  is  a  native  of  Sangamon  County, 
111.  He  was  born  May  7,  1838,  and  is  one  of  a 
family  of  ten  children,  whose  parents  were  Alfred 
and  Nancy  (Hoover)  Hedrick,  the  former  a  native 
of  Tennessee,  and  the  latter  of  Ohio.  Of  their 
five  sons  and  five  daughters,  six  are  yet  living, 
namely:  Lewis  R.;  Louisa,  wife  of  William  Art- 
man,  of  Wellington,  Kan.;  Margaret  Jane,  wife  of 
James  George,  of  Christian  County,  III.;  Caroline 
F.,  wife  of  James  H.  Williams,  who  resides  near 
Cicero,  Kan.;  William,  also  of  Cicero;  and  Henry, 
who  is  living  near  Bentonville,  Ark.  The  father 


of  this  family  was  for  man}'  years  a  resident  of 
Sangamon  Count}',  111.,  where  be  located  in  a  very- 
early  day.  In  1867,  he  removed  to  Christian 
County  and  purchased  two  hundred  and  forty 
acres  of  land  in  Bear  Creek  Township,  where  he 
carried  on  agricultural  pursuits  until  his  death. 
He  died  July  20,  1892,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight 
years,  and  his  wife  passed  away  in  1890,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-five  years.  She  was  a  member  of  the 
Christian  Church. 

The  paternal  grandfather  of  our  subject,  Samuel 
Hedrick,  was  a  native  of  Tennessee.  His  father, 
however,  was  born  in  Germany,  and  was  the 
founder  of  the  family  in  America.  Samuel  fol- 
lowed the  occupation  of  farming,  and  reared  a 
large  family.  In  religious  faith  he  was  a  Hard- 
shell Baptist.  The  maternal  grandfather  of  our 
subject,  Lewis  Renault,  was  a  native  of  France. 

Lewis  R.  Hedrick  spent  the  days  of  his  boy- 
hood in  Sangamon  County,  and  remained  with  his 
parents  until  twenty-four  years  of  age,  when  he 
responded  to  the  country's  call  for  troops  and  en- 
listed in  Company  E,  One  Hundred  and  Four- 
teenth Illinois  Infantry,  in  which  he  served  for 
three  years.  He  was  in  the  siege  of  Vicksburg 
and  helped  to  take  Jackson,  Miss.,  three  times.  He 
entered  the  service  as  a  private,  but  his  meritori- 
ous conduct  and  bravery  on  the  field  of  battle  won 
him  promotion  to  the  rank  of  Second  Lieutenant. 
A  fearless  soldier,  he  was  ever  found,  at  his  post 
of  duty,  faithfully  defending  the  Old  Flag.  After 
his  return  from  the  war,  he  located  in  Blue  Mound 
Township,  Macon  County,  upon  a  farm,  where  he 
remained  for  a  year.  He  then  removed  to  South 
Fork  Township,  Christian  County,  where  he  car- 
ried on  agricultural  pursuits  for  four  years,  and 
then  came  to  Taylorville,  where  he  has  since 
made  his  home. 

On  the  19th  of  September,  1865,  Mr.  Hedrick 
wedded  Miss  Sarah  A.,  daughter  of  Davis  and 
Mary  (Newcomer)  Meredith,  of  Sangamon  County. 
There  are  a  number  of  singular  coincidences  in 
the  Hedrick  and  Meredith  families.  The  father 
and  father-in-law  of  our  subject  were  born  on  the 
same  day,  and  the  mother  and  mother-in-law. 
Their  marriages  were  celebrated  on  the  same  day 
and  each  family  had  seven  children  when  Lewis  R. 


PORTKAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


391 


Hedrick  and  Sarah  A.  Meredith  were  married.  By 
the  union  of  our  subject  and  his  wife  have  been 
born  eight  children,  but  five  of  the  number  are 
now  deceased,  namely:  Charles  D.,  Nannie  A., 
Rosa,  Robert  I.  and  Calvin  D.  Mary  S.,  Alice 
and  Alfred  are  still  living.  The  parents  are  both 
members  of  the  Christian  Church,  in  which  Mr. 
Hedrick  has  served  as  Elder  for  many  years,  and 
are  faithful  workers  in  its  interest.  He  was  for- 
merly a  Republican  in  politics,  but  is  now  a  sup- 
porter of  the  Prohibition  party.  The  best  inter- 
ests of  Taylorville  always  find  in  him  a  friend, 
and  he  is  a  public-spirited  and  progressive  citizen, 
whose  aid  is  never  withheld  from  any  enterprise 
calculated  to  advance  the  general  welfare. 


^ESLEY  SIMPSON,  one  of  the  early  set- 
tlers of  Christian  County,  now  residing 
on  section  13,  Rosemond  Township,  is 
numbered  among  the  extensive  land-owners  of 
the  community,  his  possessions  aggregating  seven 
hundred  and  sixty  acres.  In  his  business  affaire 
he  has  been  very  successful  and  has  achieved  a 
prosperity  which  numbers  him  among  the  substan- 
tial citizens  of  central  Illinois. 

Mr.  Simpson  was  born  in  Harrison  County, 
Ohio,  January  9,  1831,  and  is  of  Irish  descent. 
His  grandfather,  John  Simpson,  was  born  in  the 
Emerald  Isle,  and  when  a  young  man  emigrated 
to  America.  He  became  one  of  the  early  settlers 
of  Jefferson  County,  Ohio,  in  1810,  and  afterwards 
removed  to  Harrison  County,  where  he  took  up 
land  from  the  Government,  making  his  home 
thereon  until  called  to  his  final  rest.  The  father 
of  our  subject,  Alexander  Simpson,  was  born  in 
Huntingdon  County,  Pa.,  in  1796,  and  at  the  age 
of  six  years  accompanied  his  paients  to  the  Buck- 
eye State.  He  married  Eliza  Mary  Evans,  a  na- 
tive of  Ireland,  who  was  a  maiden  of  sixteen  sum- 
mers when  she  came  with  her  sister  to  America. 
Their  union  was  celebrated  in  Harrison  County, 
and  they  began  their  domestic  life  upon  a  farm, 


Mr.  Simpson  entering  land  from  the  Government. 
About  1860,  they  came  to  Christian  County,  111., 
locating  in  Rosemond  Township,  where  the  mother 
passed  away.  The  death  of  the  father  occurred 
in  Kansas.  They  were  the  parents  of  ten  chil- 
dren, seven  sons  and  three  daughters,  all  of  whom 
grew  to  manhood  and  womanhood,  while  nine  are 
now  living. 

Our  subject,  who  is  the  third  in  order  of  birth, 
remained  upon  the  home  farm  until  he  had  at- 
tained his  majority,  his  childhood  being  passed  in 
the  usual  manner  of  farmer  Inds.  In  1852,  he 
started  Westward,  hoping  to  benefit  his  financial 
condition  thereby.  Locating  in  Pike  County,  111., 
he  worked  by  the  month  as  a  farm  hand  for  a  time, 
and  then  engaged  in  clerking  in  a  store.  Subse- 
quently he  returned  to  Ohio,  where,  January  17, 
1856,  he  married  Miss  Sarah  J.  Cheney,  at  New  Cum- 
berland. Mrs.  Simpson  was  born  in  Jackson  Coun- 
ty, Va.,  February  14,  1834.  To  them  was  born  a 
family  of  nine  children:  Charles  W.,  Asa  O.,  Elmer 
E.,  Jennie,  William  G.,  Clyde,  Austin  U.  and  Royal 
D.,all  of  whom  are  living,  and  Sarah  E.,  who  died  in 
childhood.  The  mother  of  this  family  died  May 
30,  1873.  She  was  for  many  years  a  member  of 
the  Methodist  Church. 

On  the  6th  of  December,  1877,  Mr.  Simpson 
was  again  married,  when  Miss  Martha  S.  Cheney 
became  his  wife.  She  is  a  niece  of  his  former  wife, 
and  a  native  of  Louisville,  Ky.  Six  children 
were  born  of  this  union,  but  two  died  in  infancy. 
Those  living  are  Frank,  Emma  J.,  John  A.  Logan 
and  Mary  E.  Again  coining  to  this  State,  Mr. 
Simpson  made  a  location  upon  a  farm  in  Pike 
County,  which  he  operated  for  a  year,  and  then 
came  to  Christian  County,  the  date  of  his  arrival 
being  April,  1857. 

Mr.  Simpson  here'reuted  a  farm  for  a  year  at  the 
head  of  South  Fork,  and  then  purchased  railroad 
laud  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company,  in 
what  is  now  Greenwood  Township,  and  turned 
his  attention  to  general  farming.  He  devoted  his 
energies  to  the  development  and  cultivation  of  his 
first  purchase  until  1886,  when  he  removed  to  the 
farm  on  which  he  now  resides,  comprising  five 
hundred  acres.  The  old  homestead  is  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  in  extent,  and  he  also  has 


392 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


another  farm  of  one  hundred  acres,  his  possessions 
therefore  aggregating  seven  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  valuable  land,  the  greater  part  of  which 
is  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation  and  yields  to 
the  owner  a  good  income.  His  son,  Asa  O.,  now 
operates  the  old  home  place. 

For  many  years  Mr.  Simpson  has  now  engaged 
in  general  farming  and  stock-raising.  He  gives 
his  special  attention  to  the  latter  branch  of  busi- 
ness at  this  writing  and  now  has  over  one  hundred 
head  of  cattle.  Our  subject  started  out  in  life  a  poor 
man,  with  no  capital  save  a  young  man's  bright 
hope  of  the  future  and  a  determination  to  win 
success  if  it  could  be  achieved  through  industry 
and  perseverance.  He  has  succeeded,  having 
more  than  realized  the  hopes  of  his  early  man- 
hood. That  his  prosperity  is  well  deserved  is  ac- 
knowledged by  all.  In  politics,  Mr.  Simpson  has 
been  a  supporter  of  Republican  principles  since 
the  organization  of  the  party,  and  socially  is  a 
member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity.  He  is  num- 
bered among  the  early  settlers  of  this  community, 
and  among  the  leading  citizens  of  Christian 
County. 


§ENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  LANTZ  occupies 
the  position  of  Postmaster  of  Taylorville, 
and  is  proving  himself  a  capable  and  ef- 
ficient officer,  as  well  as  a  popular  one.  He 
is  widely  known  throughout  the  community,  and 
is  a  man  who  has  many  warm  friends.  He  was 
born  in  Lancaster,  Ohio,  October  19,  1840,  and 
his  parents,  Martin  and  Lavina  (Hines)  Lantz, 
were  also  natives  of  the  Buckeye  State.  They 
had  only  two  children,  Benjamin,  and  Samuel  W., 
who  now  resides  in  Lyons,  Kan.  Tiie  father  car- 
ried on  the  butchering  business  in  Lancaster  for 
many  years.  At  length  he  came  to  Illinois,  in 
1870,  and  located  in  Taylorville,  where  he  carried 
on  business  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in 
1873,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six  years.  His  wife  sur- 
vived him,  and  departed  this  life  in  1883,  at  the 


age  of  sixty-nine.  The  paternal  grandfather, 
Martin  Lantz,  was  a  Pennsylvania!!  by  birth,  and 
became  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Ohio.  He  en- 
tered land  within  three  miles  of  Lancaster,  and 
there  made  his  home  until  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred when  more  than  eighty  years  of  age.  He 
was  twice  married,  and  reared  a  family  of  seven 
children. 

The  gentleman  whose  name  heads  this  record 
spent  the  days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth  in  his 
native  city,  and  there  acquired  a  good  practical 
English  education.  At  the  age  of  eighteen,  he 
began  learning  the  blacksmith's  trade, at  which  he 
served  a  three-years  apprenticeship,  but  on  the 
breaking  out  of  the  war  he  abandoned  the  forge 
and  shouldered  the  musket.  Prompted  by  patri- 
otic impulses,  he  responded  to  the  President's  call 
for  troops  in  the  beginning  of  the  strife,  and 
served  for  nearly  four  years  in  Company  F,  Forty- 
sixth  Ohio  Infantry.  At  the  battle  of  Pittsburg 
Landing,  in  which  he  participated,  during  the  first 
day  of  the  struggle  he  was  taken  prisoner,  and  after 
being  incarcerated  for  about  thirty  days,  he 
was  paroled,  but  was  not  exchanged  for  almost  a 
year,  returning  to  his  regiment  just  a  year  after  he 
had  been  made  a  prisoner.  The  next  battle  in  which 
he  took  part  was  at  Memphis,  Tenn.,  it  commenc- 
ing on  the  2d  of  May,  at  Resaca.  He  was  in  front 
of  Atlanta  during  the  siege  of  that  city,  and  on 
account  of  a  wound  received  on  the  5th  of  Au- 
gust was  incapacitated  for  duty  for  thirty  days. 
Rejoining  his  regiment  at  Jonesboro,  he  went  into 
battle  there  and  remained  with  the  troops  until 
reaching  Washington,  when  he  left  the  Capitol 
City  for  Louisville,  Ky.,  where  he  was  mustered 
out.  Mr.  Lantz  saw  much  hard  service,  but  he 
remained  true  to  the  Old  Flag  and  to  the  cause  of 
the  Union  until  the  fact  of  her  preservation  was 
an  established  one. 

Our  subject  was  then  returned  to  Lancaster, 
Ohio,  and  worked  at  his  trade  for  a  j'ear.  In  1866, 
he  went  to  Decatur,  III.,  where  he  joined  an  old 
army  comrade.  Forming  a  partnership,  they  went 
to  Wheatland,  and,  opening  a  blacksmith  shop, 
there  did  business  for  a  year,  from  which  place 
Mr.  Lantz  came  to  Taylorville.  He  was  here  em- 
ployed in  the  agricultural  implement  warehouse 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


of  Sattley  Brothers  for  four  years,  after  -which  he 
secured  a  position  with  Brooks  <fe  Shu  tier,  with 
whom  he  remained  for  about  three  years.  He  then 
served  ns  Deputy  in  the  office  of  the  County  Clerk, 
under  William  H.  Kirkwood.  On  the  17th  of 
June,  1875,  he  entered  the  postoffice  as  assistant 
to  John  J.  Squires,  and  has  here  remained  contin- 
uously since.  On  the  27th  of  January,  1891,  he 
was  made  Postmaster  by  President  Harrison,  and 
is  the  present  incumbent.  His  connection  with 
the  office  covers  a  period  of  eighteen  years,  a  fact 
which  well  indicates  faithfulness  to  duty,  prompt- 
ness and  fidelit3r. 

Turning  from  the  public  to  the  private  life  of 
Mr.  Lantz,  we  record  that  on  the  8th  of  October, 
1867,  was  celebrated  his  marriage  with  Miss  Ber- 
lina  J.  Dean,  a  daughter  of  Allen  and  Maria  (Webb) 
Dean,  of  Lancaster,  Ohio.  Four  children  grace 
this  union,  Albert  E.,  Bertha,  Roy  and  Minnie, 
and  they  also  lost  a  daughter  in  infancy.  Albert, 
a  cigarmaker  of  Taylorville,  married  Miss  Belle 
Murphy,  and  unto  them  has  been  born  a  son,  La- 
Moine. 

The  Lantz  family  has  a  pleasant  home  in  Tay- 
lorville, which  is  the  abode  of  hospitality,  and  the 
members  of  the  household  rank  high  in  the  social 
circles  in  which  they  move.  Mr.  Lantz  is  a  warm 
advocate  of  Republican  principles,  and  socially  is 
connected  with  F.  M.  Long  Post  No.  392,  G.  A. 
R.  His  wife  is  a  consistent  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist Church.  One  of  the  honored  boys  in  blue, 
a  public-spirited  citizen  and  a  faithful  officer,  Mr. 
Lantz  well  deserves  representation  in  this  history 
of  his  adopted  county. 


^ILLIAM  C.  HAINES,  who  occupies  the  re- 
sponsible position  of  County  Clerk  of 
Christian  County,  and  makes  his  home  in 
Taylorville,  is  a  native  of  Virginia.  lie  was  born 
in  Rappahannock  County,  September  21,  1832, 
and  is  a  son- of  Isaac  and  Lucy  C.  (Ferguson) 


Haines,  who  were  also  natives  of  the  Old  Domin- 
ion. The  paternal  grandfather,  Ezekiel  Haines, 
was  born  in  Virginia,  and  was  of  German  descent. 
He  was  a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  spent  his  en- 
tire life  in  the  State  of  his  nativity.  In  religious 
belief  he  was  a  Methodist.  He  reared  a  large 
family  of  fourteen  children,  and  lived  to  quite  an 
advanced  age. 

Rev.  Isaac  Ilaines,  father  of  our  subject,  was  a 
farmer,  and  also  a  minister  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church.  He  came  to  Illinois  with  his  family 
in  1836,  and  located  in  Cooper  Township,  Sanga- 
mon  County,  four  miles  east  of  Rochester,  where 
he  died  in  1838,  at  the  age  of  thirty-one  years  and 
three  months.  '  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  a 
candidate  on  the  Democratic  ticket  for  the  Legis- 
lature. After  the  death  of  her  first  husband,  Mrs. 
Haines  married  Thomas  S.  Young,  by  whom  she 
had  a  daughter,  Ellen  T.,  now  the  wife  of  F.  M. 
Young,  a  farmer  of  Christian  County.  She,  too, 
was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  died 
in  Christian  County  in  August,  1849,  at  the  age 
of  forty-four  years.  Her  father,  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin Ferguson,  was  a  Virginia  farmer  and  quite  a 
prominent  and  public-spirited  man.  The  Fergu- 
sons are  of  Scotch  descent,  and  in  religious  belief 
the  grandfather  of  our  subject  was  an  Episco- 
palian. 

William  C.  Haines  was  one  of  four  children,  but 
has  only  a  sister  now  living,  Lucy,  wife  of  Joseph 
N.  Clark,  of  Frederickstown,  Mo.  Our  subject 
was  only  four  years  old  when  his  parents  came  to 
Illinois.  He  received  his  early  education  in  the 
old-fashioned  subscription  schools,  and  in  his 
youth  he  worked  at  the  carpenter's  trade  for  two 
years.  Attracted  by  the  discovery  of  gold  in 
California,  he  went  by  wagon  to  the  Pacific  Slope 
in  1852,  and  there  engaged  in  mining  until 
1859,  when  he  returned  home,  reaching  his 
destination  on  the  5th  of  October. 

On  the  16th  of  November  following,  Mr.  Haines 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Lucy  Ellen, 
daughter  of  Ezekiel  and  Nancy  (Jones)  Young, 
who  were  natives  of  Kentucky.  Her  father  was 
the  first  County  Clerk  of  Christian  County.  Two 
children  were  born  of  their  union:  Maude  E.,  who 
died  in  infancy;  and  Dora  Eugenia,  now  the  wife 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


of  Amos  Johnson.  They  have  two  children, 
Clarence  anrl  Eleanor.  Mrs.  Haines,  who  was  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  died 
November  14,  1864,  and  Mr.  Haines  was  again 
married,  in  1866,  his  second  union  being  with  Miss 
Margaret  E.,  daughter  of  Henderson  Hancock,  of 
Kentucky.  By  this  marriage  eight  children  have 
been  born:  Belle;  Clarence,  now  deceased;  Will- 
iam C.,  Irene,  Eugene  H.,  Mamie,  Anna  F.,  and 
one  that  died  in  infancy. 

After  his  return  from  California,  Mr.  Haines 
engaged  in  farming  until  1861,  when  he  went  to 
Texas,  where  he  remained  ten  months.  He  then 
carried  on  farming  in  this  county  until  1878,  his 
home  being  located  a  mile  west  of  Taylorville. 
In  November  of  that  year  he  was  appointed  Dep- 
uty Sheriff  under  A.  L.  Clark,  and  served  for  six- 
teen months,  when  Mr.  Clark  died  and  Mr.  Humes 
was  appointed  Sheriff  to  till  the  unexpired  term. 
He  was  then  elected  to  the  office  for  two  years. 
Under  the  new  law  he  was  again  elected,  and  served 
a  term  of  four  years.  On  leaving  that  office  he 
embarked  in  the  grocery  business  in  partnership 
with  Charles  B.  Young,  which  connection  contin- 
ued for  two  years.  He  then  purchased  his  part- 
ner's interest  and  carried  on  the  business  alone  for 
a  year,  when  he  admitted  John  Lewis  to  partner- 
ship. After  eighteen  months,  Mr.  Lewis  sold  his 
interest  to  John  W.  Bedwell,  and  business  is  now 
carried  on  under  the  firm  name  of  Haines  &  Bed- 
well.  In  March,  1893,  Mr.  Haiues  was  elected  at 
a  special  election  to  the  oftice  of  County  Clerk  to 
fill  the  unexpired  term  of  Charles  Whitmer,  who 
resigned  to  accept  the  first  clerkship  in  the  State 
Auditor's  office.  Mr.  Haines  has  also  served  as 
Alderman  for  six  years.  It  is  needless  to  say  to 
those  who  know  him  that  it  has  been  faithful  per- 
formance of  duty  that  has  kept  him  in  office  for 
such  long-continued  periods,  and  that  the  honor 
thus  conferred  upon  him  has  been  well  merited. 

In  his  social  relations,  Mr.  Haines  is  connected 
with  the  Independent  Order  of  Mutual  Aid.  His 
wife  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  In  public  and  private  life  his  career  has 
been  alike  above  reproach,  in  his  business  dealings 
he  is  upright  and  honorable,  in  his  official  duties 
he  is  prompt  and  careful.  All  who  know  Mr. 


Haines  esteem  him  for  his  sterling  worth  and  many 
excellencies  of  character,  and  as  one  of  the  influen- 
tial citizens  of  Taylorville  he  well  deserves  rep- 
resentation in  this  volume. 


JC.  SHAFER,  a  merchant  and  undertaker 
of  Assumption,  is  one  of  the  early  settlers 
of  Christian  County.  He  is  a  native  of 
Ohio,  born  in  Fairfield  County  July  7, 
1853.  His  father,  G.  A.  Shafer,  was  also  born  in 
the  same  county,  the  date  of  that  event  being 
November  14,  1827.  The  latter  on  his  arrival  at 
mature  years  wedded  Miss  C.  A.  Myers,  also  of  the 
same  county.  For  many  years  Mr.  Shafer  engaged 
in  farming  in  Ohio,  and  in  1854  removed  to  Illi- 
nois. His  first  location  in  this  State  was  Shelbj'- 
ville,  where  he  remained  only  a  short  time,  how- 
ever. He  purchased  some  land  in  Christian 
County,  but  engaged  in  farming  in  Tazewell 
County  until  1872,  at  which  time  he  sold  his  farm 
and  bought  land  adjoining  Assumption.  For  the 
succeeding  fourteen  years  he  devoted  his  energies 
to  improving  and  cultivating  this  farm.  He  has 
now  retired  from  business  affairs,  and  though  well 
along  in  years  is  hale  and  hearty,  bidding  fair  to 
live  many  years  longer. 

The  boyhood  of  our  subject  was  passed  without 
any  unusual  event,  in  the  manner  of  farmer  lads, 
his  time  being  divided  between  work  on  the  farm 
and  attendance  at  the  district  schools.  He  was 
studious  and  made  the  most  of  his  advantages,  and 
in  later  years  has  been  an  extensive  reader,  thus 
becoming  well  informed  on  all  the  leading  ques- 
tions of  the  day.  He  came  to  Christian  County 
when  a  young  man  and  engaged  in  farming  for 
some  time  with  his  father.  He  afterward  sold  farm 
machinery  for  the  Walter  A.  Wood  Manufacturing 
Company,  and  next  worked  for  his  brother  in  the 
hardware  business.  Mr.  Shafer  next  became  agent 
for  the  Gliddcn  Barb  Wire  Man u  factoring  Com- 
pany. In  1884,  he  left  the  road  and  went  to 
Kansas,  where  he  engaged  in  farming  for  three 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


395 


years.  In  1887  lie  bought  his  present  business 
and  has  since  added  sewing-machines  and  organs. 
He  makes  a  specialty  of  undertaking  and  embalm- 
ing. He  owns  a  large  farm  in  Kansas  and  has  a 
pleasant  home  in  Assumption. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Shafer  was  celebrated  in 
1871,  in  Litchfleld,  111.,  with  Miss  Clara  C.  Ben- 
ope,  who  was  born  in  Ohio,  but  grew  to  woman- 
hood and  was  educated  in  Illinois.  She  passed 
away  in  1872.  In  1874,  Mr.  Shafer  wedded  Miss 
Tranna  Ellis,  the  ceremony  being  performed  in 
Tazewell  County.  The  lady  was  born  in  Tazewell 
County,  111.,  and  passed  her  girlhood  and  was  mar- 
ried in  the  house  she  was  born  in.  She  has  be- 
come the  mother  of  two  children:  Royal  and 
Ethel.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shafer  are  members  of  the 
Christian  Church. 

Our  subject  is  greatly  interested  in  civic  so- 
cieties, belonging  to  the  Odd  Fellows,  in  which  he 
has  served  as  Past  Grand,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
Modern  Woodmen  of  America  and  is  Chief  Ex- 
ecutive of  his  lodge,  also  of  the  Knights  of  Honor. 
In  politics,  he  supports  the  principles  and  nom- 
inees of  the  Republican  party,  and  is  zealous  in  the 
cause.  He  is  recognized  as  a  man  of  good  busi- 
ness ability,  and  with  his  estimable  wife  has  the 
high  esteem  and  respect  of  all. 


/ffij&  ASSIUS  DE  LOSS  CUTLER,  one  of  Chris- 
(l(  Y-  tian  County's  most  prominent,  progressive 
^^^/  and  successful  farmers,  resides  on  section 
33,  Pana  Township.  Few  citizens  are  more  widely 
or  favorably  known  than  our  subject,  and  it  is 
therefore  with  pleasure  that  we  present  this  record 
of  his  life  to  our  readers,  knowing  that  it  will  be 
received  with  interest  by  many. 

Mr.  Cutler  was  born  in  Ohio,  on  the  1st  of  Jan- 
uary, 1848,  and  comes  of  one  of  the  old  families 
of  Massach usetts.  His  grandfather,  John  Cutler, 
was  a  Massachusetts  fanner.  The  family  came 
originally  from  England,  and  the  great-great-great- 
grandfather of  our  subject  was  born  in  that  coun- 


try. The  father  of  our  subject  also  bore  the  name  of 
John  Cutler,  and  was  a  native  of  Ohio.  By  trade 
he  was  a  carpenter,  and  followed  contracting  for 
many  years.  His  wife,  who  bore  the  maiden  nanic 
of  Marj'  A.  Parks,  was  also  born  in  the  Buckeye 
State,  and  was  of  French  descent.  Their  family 
numbered  seven  children,  five  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters, of  whom  our  subject  is  the  eldest. 

Mr.  Cutler  whose  name  heads  this  record  at- 
tended the  schools  of  Benton,  Ohio,  and  became 
familiar  with  the  common  English  branches  of 
learning.  No  event  of  any  special  importance 
occurred  during  his  youth,  and  the  history  of  any 
farmer  lad  is  almost  identical  with  that  of  the 
early  years  of  our  subject.  He  was  a  young  man 
of  nineteen  years  when  he  left  the  State  of  his 
nativity  and  emigrated  Westward  to  Illinois.  The 
year  1865  witnessed  his  arrival  in  Christian  Coun- 
ty, and  March  18,  1869,  having  attained  to  mature 
years,  he  celebrated  his  marriage.  At  that  time 
he  was  united  with  Miss  Agnes  McConnell,  also  a 
native  of  Ohio.  Her  death  occurred  April  -28, 
1878,  and  she  left  three  sons  to  mourn  her  loss, 
namely:  Harry  A.,  on  the  farm;  Frank  A.,  a  book- 
keeper in  Schnyler's  Bank,  in  Pana;  and  Alvin  R., 
at  home.  Mr.  Cutler  was  afterward  married,  on 
the  23d  of  March,  1880,  his  second  union  being 
with  Miss  Mollie  Dickey,  a  native  of  this  county. 

The  father  of  Mrs.  Cutler,  Dr.  Salem  Dickey, 
deceased,  was  a  pioneer  physician  of  this  commu- 
nity, in  fact  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  the 
county.  His  business  interests  made  him  widely 
known,  and  he  became  a  leading  and  influential 
citizen.  Of  his  family  of  four  children,  Mrs.  Cut- 
ler was  the  third  in  order  of  birth.  By  her  mar- 
riage she  has  become  the  mother  of  five  children, 
two  sons  and  three  daughters,  as  follows:  Bertha, 
Elmer,  Eva,  John  and  an  infant  unnamed. 

The  Cutler  farm  comprises  two  hundred  and 
ninety  acres  of  valuable  land,  under  a  high  slate  of 
cultivation,  and  well  improved  with  all  the  acces- 
sories and  equipments  of  a  model  farm.  There 
are  a  substantial  residence,  barns  and  outbuildings, 
which  are  models  of  convenience,  and  the  latest 
improved  machinery,  etc.  A  glance  at  this  place 
shows  the  owner  to  be  a  most  thrifty  and  progress- 
ive agriculturist.  On  one  occasion  he  received 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


the  majority  of  votes  cast  at  the  Pana  Fair  for  the 
best  farmer  in  the  county,  and  received  the  prize 
for  the  same,  a  fioe  road  cart.  He  owns  one  hun- 
dred acres  of  land  in  Shelby  County,  which  is  also 
under  his  personal  supervision  and  yields  to  him 
a  good  income. 

Mr.  Cutler  exercises  his  right  of  franchise  in 
support  of  the  Republican  party.  He  formerly 
served  as  Road  Commissioner,  and  is  now  Assistant 
Supervisor  of  Pana  Township.  He  takes  consid- 
erable interest  in  civic  societies  and  is  a  member  of 
Pana  Lodge  No.  222,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.;  Chapter  No. 
115,  R.  A.  M.;  and  the  Ancient  Order  of  United 
Workmen.  Mr.  Cutler  certainly  deserves  great 
credit  for  his  success  in  life,  for  it  is  the  result  of 
his  own  efforts,  and  his  business  career  is  certainly 
worthy  of  emulation. 


JOHN    WICKLIFFE    KITCHELL,    one   of 
Christian  County's  most  prominent  attor- 
neys, is  a  resident  of  P*ana,  and  belongs  to 
one  of  the  honored  pioneer  families  of  the 
State.     He  is  one  of  Illinois'  native  sons,  his  birth 
having  occurred  in  Palestine,  Crawford  County, 
May  30,  1835.     His  father,  Wickliff  Kitchell,  was 
born  in  New  York,  and  came  to  Illinois  in  1818, 
the  year  of  its  admission  to  the  Union.     His  wife, 
who  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Elizabeth  Ross,  was 
a   native   of   New   Jersey,   and  had  a  family  of 
eleven  children,  of  whom  three  daughters  are  now 
living,  and  our  subject,  who  is  the  youngest  in 
the  family,  and  the  only  one  residing  in  Christian 
County. 

Wickliff  Kitchell  removed  to  Hillsboro,  Mont- 
gomery Count}-,  in  1838.  Wherever  he  resided 
he  at  once  became  recognized  as  a  prominent  and 
influential  citizen.  He  at  one  time  served  as 
Attorney-General  of  the  State,  to  which  position 
he  was  appointed  by  the  Governor.  He  was  also 
State's  Attorney,  and  was  Register  of  the  Land 
Office  located  at  Palestine.  He  was,  at  one  time, 
candidate  for  Congress.  In  politics,  he  was  a 


Democrat  until  the  close  of  the  Mexican  War. 
A  firm  opponent  of  the  extension  of  slavery, 
he  was  a  strong  anti-Nebraska  man,  and  became 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Republican  party  in 
Illinois,  and  attended  the  first  Republican  State 
Convention,  held  at  Bloomington  in  1856.  In 
1847,  he  left  Illinois,  and  spent  seven  years  in 
Ft.  Madison,  Iowa,  after  which  he  returned,  and 
henceforth  was  identified  with  the  interests  of 
Illinois.  He  was  acquainted  with  all  the  promi- 
nent men  of  the  State,  and  was  intimately  associ- 
ated in  law  and  politics  with  A.  T.  Fields,  Gen. 
James  Shields,  U.  F.  Linder,  John  M.  Palmer,  O. 
B.  Ficklin,  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  Abraham  Lincoln, 
Lyman  Trumbull  and  Joseph  Gillespie.  He  took 
a  very  active  interest  in  public  affairs,  and  his  in- 
fluence was  widely  felt.  He  was  a  man  of 
advanced  views,  fitted  to  mould  public  opinion 
and  to  be  a  leader  of  the  people.  He  owned  a 
section  of  land  near  Pana,  Christian  County, 
which  he  was  improving  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
in  1869,  when  in  his  eightieth  year.  His  wife  had 
passed  away  in  October,  1862. 

Judge  Alfred  Kitchell,  the  eldest  son  of  this 
worthy  couple,  was  a  prominent  lawyer  of  Olney, 
111.  He  served  several  terms  as  State's  Attorney, 
and  about  1860  was  elected  to  the  Bench  as  Judge 
of  the  Circuit  Court.  In  1866,  he  removed  to 
Galesburg,  111.,  where  his  death  occurred  ten  years 
later.  Edward  Kitchell,  the  second  son,  residing 
in  Olney,  was  also  a  stalwart  supporter  of  the 
Republican  party.  In  1862,  he  enlisted,  and  was 
commissioned  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  Ninety- 
eighth  Illinois  Infantry,  and  was  afterwards 
breveted  Brigadier-General  for  gallant  service  on 
the  field.  He  was  Collector  of  Internal  Revenue 
for  his  district,  and  ran  as  Republican  candidate 
for  Congress,  making  a  strong  race.  His  death 
occurred  in  Olney,  in  1870. 

We  now  take  up  the  personal  history  of  John 
Wickliffe  Kitchell.  At  an  early  age  it  became  his 
desire  to  enter  the  legal  profession,  and  when  a 
young  man  of  seventeen  he  began  reading  law 
with  the  firm  of  Miller  &  Beck,  both  distinguished 
attorneys  of  Ft.  Madison,  Iowa,  the  former  a 
member  of  Congress,  and  the  latter  afterwards 
Supreme  Judge  for  more  than  twenty'  years. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


397 


After  one  year's  study,  he  was  admitted  to  the 
Iowa  Bar.  lie  began  practice  in  Hillsboro,  111., 
while  still  in  his  minority,  being  for  a  time  a 
partner  of  Judge  E.  Y.  Rice,  and  he  remained  in 
Hillsboro  until  after  the  close  of  the  War  of  the 
Rebellion,  except  for  one  year,  which  lie  spent  in 
Charleston,  111. 

In  1854,  the  members  elect  of  the  Illinois  Gen- 
eral Assembly  consisted  of  Old-line  Whigs  and 
Democrats  and  a  few  so-called  Anti-Nebraska 
Democrats.  The  opposition  to  the  Democrats 
combined,  elected  the  officers,  and  subsequently 
Lyraan  Trumbull  to  the  United  States  Senate. 
Air.  Kitchell,  then  in  his  twentieth  year,  applied 
for  a  position,  and  was  elected  Assistant  Clerk  of 
the  House  of  Representatives.  The  session  was 
made  memorable  by  a  severe  snow-storm,  which 
happened  during  an  adjournment,  blockading 
the  railroads  in  the  northern  portion  of  the  State, 
and  keeping  away  a  majority  of  the  members  for 
many  days.  The  Assistant  Clerk  went  to  Chicago, 
along  with  others,  and  his  recollections  of  the  re- 
turn are  not  the  most  agreeable,  as  the  train  was 
frozen  in  beyond  Pontiac.  A  walk  of  a  dozen 
miles,  with  the  mercury  many  degrees  below  zero, 
and  a  passage  by  sleigh  the  balance  of  the  way  to 
the  capital  ended  that  adventure. 

The  sweeping  triumph  of  the  Republican  party 
in  the  fall  of  1860  gave  to  Illinois  its  first  Repub- 
lican Legislature,  and  Mr.  Kitchell  was  for  a 
second  time  chosen  First.  Assistant  Clerk  of  the 
House,  and  performed  the  duties  of  Reading  Clerk 
throughout  the  entire  session.  After  the  close  of 
the  sittings  each  day,  the  clerks  had  to  make  up 
the  journals  to  be  read  the  following  day,  and 
this  frequently  kept  them  until  the  small  hours  of 
the  morning.  Just  prior  to  the  final  adjourn- 
ment, on  motion  of  Mr.  Church,  a  resolution, 
perhaps  the  only  one  of  the  kind  to  be  found  on 
the  journals  of  the  Legislature,  was  unanimously 
passed,  granting  to  the  chief  clerk  and  his  first 
assistant  extra  pay  for  work  performed  after 
midnight.  The  session  of  1860-61  was  doubtless 
the  most  important  and  exciting  in  the  history  of 
the  State.  S.  M.  Cullom,  afterwards  Governor, 
and  now  United  States  Senator,  was  Speaker  of  the 
House,  and  Church  and  Hurlbut  leaders  on  the 


Republican  side,  and  those  who  heard  Gov.  Yates' 
inaugural  address,  will  long  remember  it.  Re- 
maining after  the  close  of  the  session  to  finish  up 
the  journals,  Mr.  Kitchell  had  the  good  fortune  to 
be  among  those  who  assembled  to  bid  farewell  to 
Mr.  Lincoln  as  he  took  his  departure  for  Wash- 
ington, and  to  hear,  from  the  platform  of  the  car 
on  which  he  stood,  the  memorable  last  words 
which  the  President  elect  uttered  at  his  old  home 
to  the  throng  of  anxious  friends.  The  next  time 
he  saw  Mr.  Lincoln  was  on  that  sadder  occasion, 
when  the  body  of  the  martyred  President  was 
lying  in  state  at  the  capitol  in  Springfield,  and 
when  thousands  passed  by  the  sarcophagus,  Mr. 
Kitchell  being  one  of  the  staff-officers  detailed  for 
duty  as  guard  within  the  chamber  on  that  day. 

Returning  to  his  home  at  Hillsboro,  only  a  few 
weeks  elapsed  until  Mr.  Lincoln  made  his  first  call 
for  seventy-five  thousand  troops  to  aid  in  crush- 
ing out  the  rebellion,  and  Mr.  Kitchell  at  once 
enlisted  in  the  first  company  raised  in  Montgomery 
County.  On  arriving  at  Springfield,  he  resigned 
his  clerkship  in  the  Legislature,  and  went  to  Camp 
Yates  with  his  company.  He  was  chosen  First 
Lieutenant,  then  appointed  Adjutant  of  the  regi- 
ment, and  afterwards  Captain  of  Company  H, 
and  on  the  expiration  of  his  term  was  discharged. 
At  the  next  most  pressing  call  for  troops,  in  1862, 
he  was  principally  instrumental  in  raising  a  com- 
pany, of  which  he  was  to  have  been  the  Captain, 
but  the  sudden  sickness  and  subsequent  death  of 
his  mother  detained  him  at  home  until  the 
company  was  filled  and  sworn  into  service  and 
already  in  the  field.  Anxious  to  do  his  part  in 
the  then  desperate  struggle,  and  disappointed  in 
his  purpose  to  enter  the  service  with  his  compan- 
ions and  friends,  he  then  established  and  con- 
ducted the  Hillsboro  Monitor.  He  had  previously 
been  engaged  in  journalistic  work,  having  pub- 
lished the  Montgomery  County  Herald,  a  non- 
partisan  paper,  for  a  couple  of  years,  and  edited 
the  Charleston  Courier,  a  Republican  paper,  during 
his  residence  in  that  town.  The  Monitor  took 
strong  grounds  in  favor  of  the  prosecution  of  the 
war,  and  greatly  aided  the  Union  cause,  and 
many  copies  weekly  found  their  way  to  the  front 
to  cheer  the  absent  soldiers.  When  the  draft 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


came,  in  1864,  organizations  were  formed  in  the 
county  with  the  avowed  purpose  of  resisting  it, 
but  Mr.  Kitchell  counseled  obedience  to  the  law  in 
every  respect.  When  the  drawing  was  published, 
his  name  was  found  to  be  among  the  rest.  In 
pursuance  of  a  vow  he  had  previously  made  no  I 
to  furnish  a  substitute  in  case  he  should  be 
drafted,  he  at  once  sold  out  his  paper,  turned  over 
his  law  office  and  practice  to  Gen.  Jesse  J.  Phil- 
lips, who  had  then  just  .returned  from  the  army, 
and  entered  the  service  as  a  drafted  soldier.  He 
was  assigned  to  one  of  the  regiments  then  raising, 
served  as  a  private  for  some  months,  and  when 
the  war  was  over  was  mustered  out  with  the  rank 
of  Lieutenant. 

Previous  to  this  time,  our  subject  was  married, 
on  the  27th  of  February,  1862,  to  Miss  Mary 
Frances  Little,  only  daughter  of  Robert  Little,  of 
Audubon,  Montgomery  County,  111.  They  made 
their  home  in  Hillsboro  until  October,  1866, 
when  they  carne  to  Pana,  which  was  then  a  small 
village.  Mr.  Kitchell  at  once  opened  an  office  and 
began  the  practice  of  law.  He  is  now  the  oldest 
practitioner  of  Pana,  as  well  as  the  most  promi- 
nent. For  a  few  years  he  was  associated  with  A. 
C.  McMillen,  but  during  the  greater  part  of  the 
time  he  has  been  alone  in  practice.  His  abil- 
ities, natural  and  acquired,  have  won  him  a 
high  reputation  as  a  lawyer,  and  have  made  him 
extremelv  successful  in  practice.  A  clear  thinker, 
a  logical  reasoucr,  and  quick  at  reaching  conclu- 
sions, he  has  become  widely  known  as  a  legal 
advocate.  In  other  lines,  Mr.  Kitchell  is  also 
known,  for  he  has  been  identified  with  many 
public  interests.  Prominent  among  these  has  been 
the  effort  to  develop  the  coal-fields  in  the  vicinity 
of  Pana.  Strongly  impressed,  in  common  with 
many  others  of  his  fellow-townsmen,  with  a  belief 
in  the  existence  of  mineral  wealth  beneath  the 
soil,  he  took  active  part  as  early  as  1872,  when 
the  first  unsuccessful  attempt  was  made  to  find 
coal  by  the  help  of  an  old-fashioned  drill,  at  a  loss 
to  the  citizens  of  several  thousands  of  dollars. 
Ten  years  later,  he  contributed  his  time  and  means 
towards  the  more  successful  search  by  the  use  of  a 
diamond  drill,  which  took  out  a  solid  core,  result- 
ing in  the  discovery  of  the  long-hoped-for  vein 


of  fine  bituminous  coal,  seven  feet  and  three  inches 
thick,  at  a  depth  of  seven  hundred  and  twentj'- 
thrce  feet.  The  borings  were  carefully  kept  by 
Mr.  Kitchell,  as  one  of  the  committee,  and  selec- 
tions from  these  were  mounted  in  a  glass  case,  and 
are  to  be  found  in  his  office,  making  an  interesting 
object  lesson  in  geology.  The  result  of  this  finding 
was  the  sinking  of  a  shaft  the  following  year  by 
capitalists  from  a  neighboring  county.  Subse- 
quently, a  business  men's  organization  was  formed, 
called  the  Pana  Improvement  Association,  witli 
Mr.  Kitchell  as  President.  As  a  sequel  to  this 
was  the  formation,  in  1887,  of  a  company  to  sink 
another  shaft,  called  the  Penwell-Kitchell  Coal 
Mining  Co..  with  J.  W.  Kitchell  as  President,  and 
G.  V.  Penwell,  Treasurer.  Mr.  Kitchell  sold  out 
his  interest  before  coal  was  reached  to  Mr.  Pen- 
well,  and  m  a  few  months  afterwards,  in  the  early 
part  of  1889,  in  company  with  D.  J.  Overholt  and 
others,  he  organized  the  Springside  Coal  Min- 
ing Company,  and  sunk  another  shaft,  he  be- 
ing President  and  Treasurer,  and  Mr.  Overholt 
Secretary.  He  continued  in  control  until  after 
the  successful  operation  of  the  shaft,  and  retired 
from  the  management  in  May,  1891.  His  faith  in 
the  future  of  Pana  was  shown  in  the  erection  of 
his  residence  on  East  Mound, 'in  the  Centennial 
year,  and  a  block  of  business  houses  on  Second 
Street  in  1887,  and  he  holds  himself  ready  to 
assist  in  all  matters  looking  to  the  building  up 
and  the  improvement  of  the  city.  Much  of  his 
attention 'has  been  given  to  the  reclaiming  of  a 
body  of  swamp  and  overflowed  land  a  short  dis- 
tance from  Pana,  which  has  been  thereby  rendered 
highly  productive,  at  the  same  time  adding  value 
to  the  neighboring  lands  and  removing  a  source 
of  disease.  In  these  and  kindred  pursuits,  Mr. 
Kitchell  seems  to  find  his  time  more  agreeably,  if 
not  profitably,  occupied  than  in  conducting  liti- 
gated suits,  and'  has  therefore  in  a  great  measure 
ceased  active  practice  in  the  courts,  confining  his 
labors  in  law  mostly  to  an  office  practice.  He  is  a 
member  of  no  secret  order  or  society,  except  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic.  He  rigidly  ab- 
stains from  all  use  of  intoxicating  liquors, and  ab- 
jures the  use  of  tobacco  in  all  its  forms. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Kitchell  has  ever  been  a  stalwart 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Republican,  having  cast  his  first  vote  for  Fremont 
in  1856.  He  was  candidate  for  Congress  in  1874, 
his  competitor  being  his  former  law  partner,  Judge 
E.  Y.  Rice,  but  on  account  of  the  districts  being 
strongly  Democratic  lie  suffered  defeat.  He  is 
frequently  on  the  stumps  during  the  campaigns, 
and  was  a  delegate  from  the  Thirteenth  District  to 
the  Minneapolis  Convention  in  1892,  where  he 
was  a  firm  supporter  of  Harrison.  Mr.  Kitchell 
belongs  to  a  family  well  known  throughout  the 
State,  and  he  has  been  prominently  identified  with 
matters  of  public  welfare  as  editor,  lawyer  and 
politician.  His  career  has  been  one  that  has  gained 
him  the  respect  of  all  with  whom  he  has  been 
brought  in  contact.  True  to  the  Old  Flag,  faithful 
in  public  office,  honorable  in  business,  and  trust- 
worthy in  private  life,  he  ranks  among  Christian 
County's  best  citizens. 


ROF.  LLEWELLYN  SPRAGUE  HAM, 
who  is  Principal  of  the  West  School  of 
Pana,  and  is  an  educator  of  fine  ability, 
was  born  in  Wales,  Me.,  on  the  15th  of 
January,  1843,  and  is  a  son  of  Joel  and  Maria 
(Maxwell)  Ham,  who  were  also  natives  of  (he  Pine 
Tree  State.  He  was  reared  on  a  farm  until  eighteen 
years  of  age,  and  during  that  time  attended  the 
common  schools  and  an  academy.  From  early 
boyhood  he  manifested  special  aptitude  in  his 
studies  and  a  great  fondness  for  books. 

At  the  age  of  eighteen,  Prof.  Ham  attended  a 
seminary  for  a  short  time,  then  followed  teaching, 
and  afterward  entered  the  Maine  State  Seminary, 
at  Lewiston,  Me.,  now  known  as  Bates  College. 
There  he  pursued  a  preparatory  course,  after 
which  he  entered  Bowdoin  College,  in  Brunswick, 
Me.,  which  institution  has  graduated  many  of  the 
most  prominent  men  of  the  country,  including 
poets,  professors,  men  of  letters,  etc.  He  began 
his  studies  there  in  1864,  and  after  completing  the 
classical  course  was  graduated  in  1868  with  the 


degree  of  A.  B.  in  a  class  of  twenty-three,  among 
whom  was  Prof.  Robert  L.  Packard.  He  was  also 
a  member  of  the  Psi  Upsilon,  a  Greek  society. 
Prof.  Ham  met  the  greater  part  of  his  expenses  in 
college  with  the  capital  which  he  had  formerly 
acquired  in  teaching,  and  with  teaching  special 
classes  in  Bowdoin.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  he 
is  a  self-educated  and  self-made  man, and  through 
his  own  efforts  may  be  attributed  his  success  in 
life. 

When  his  collegiate  course  was  completed,  our 
subject  resumed  teaching,  becoming  principal  of 
the  High  school  in  Alfred,  Me.  In  the  spring  of 
1869,  he  removed  to  Wisconsin  and  took  charge  of 
the  La  Crosse  Valley  Seminary,  at  West  Salem, 
where  he  remained  two  years.  On  the  expiration 
of  that  period  we  find  him  in  Springfield,  111., 
where  he  engaged  in  civil  engineering  on  what  is 
now  the  Ohio  &  Mississippi  Railroad.  He  served 
as  assistant  engineer  on  the  survey  from  Edge- 
wood  to  Pana,  and  was  division  engineer  on  con- 
struction from  Edgewood  to  Tower  Hill.  He  also 
assisted  in  building  the  shops  in  Pana,  after  which 
lie  entered  the  works  here  as  book-keeper.  Sub- 
sequently for  one  year  he  filled  the  position  of 
chief  clerk  in  the  freight  office.  Altogether  he 
was  connected  with  the  Ohio  &  Mississippi  Road 
for  three  years. 

In  1873,  Mr.  Ham  became  Superintendent  of  the 
public  schools  and  acceptably  filled  the  position 
for  four  years,  when  the  schools  were  divided  and 
two  principals  selected.  Three  years  later  he  re- 
signed his  position.  For  one  year  he  engaged  in 
teaching  in  Rosemond,  and  for  two  years  served 
as  Principal  of  the  East  School  in  Taylorville.  He 
then  returned  to  take  charge  of  the  West  School 
of  Pana,  in  1881,  and  under  his  able  management 
it  has  been  so  successfully  conducted  that  Pana  is 
justly  proud  of  her  schools,  which  rank  among 
the  best  in  this  part  of  the  State.  He  has  eight 
teachers  under  his  supervision  and  has  an  enroll- 
ment of  three  hundred  and  fifty  pupils. 

On  the  7th  of  December,  1875,  in  Pana,  Mr.  Ham 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Frankie  Tomlinson, 
daughter  of  John  Tomlinson,  a  native  of  Massa- 
chusetts. She  was  born  in  Adrian,  Mich.  Seven 
children  have  been  born  of  their  union:  Bertha  A., 


400 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Elmer  L.,  Eva  I.,  Arthur  C.,  Harold,  Alice  E.,  and 
Walter  L.,  who  died  wlien  three  years  of  age. 

Prof.  Ham  and  his  wife  occupy  an  enviable 
position  in  social  circles,  and  are  prominent  mem- 
bers of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  He  has  been 
closely  connected  with  church  and  Sunday-school 
work  and  is  now  serving  as  Elder.  Prof.  Ham 
may  always  be  called  upon  to  advance  the  best 
interests  of  the  community,  and  his  influence  is 
widely  felt  for  good  throughout  Pana.  In  poli- 
tics, he  is  a  Republican.  He  is  now  serving  as 
Secretary  of  the  Pana  Building  and  Loan  Asso- 
ciation, and  has  aided  in  laying  out  additions  to 
the  city.  He  is  a  member  of  the  State  Teachers' 
Association,  and  each  summer  devotes  much  of 
his  time  to  institute  work.  Prof.  Ham  has  the 
faculty  of  readily  and  clearly  imparting  to  others 
liis  knowledge  of  any  study,  and  this,  combined 
with  his  excellent  management  and  executive 
ability,  has  made  him  a  very  successful  instructor. 
His  long-continued  service  in  Pana  indicates  his 
popularity  with  her  citizens  and  the  confidence 
they  repose  in  his  ability. 


DELSON  WARREN,  a  prominent  farmer  and 
early  settler  of  Christian  County,  residing 
on  section  23,  Pana  Township,  has    long 
been  identified  with  the  history  of  this  community, 
and  has  been  an  eye-witness  of    its  growth  and 
development.     His  part  he  has  always  borne  in 
the  work  of  public  improvement  and  advancement, 
and  therefore  well  deserves    mention    among  its 
honored  pioneers. 

Mr.  Warren  was  born  in  Walnut  Township, 
Pickaway  Township,  Ohio,  April  23,  1826.  His 
father,  Silas  Warren,  was  a  native  of  Delaware, 
and  in  his  youth  removed  to  Pickaway  County, 
where  he  married  Sarah  Riley,  who  was  also  born 
in  Delaware.  They  began  their  domestic  life  upon 
a  farm,  and  their  last  days  were  spent  in  Shelby 
County,  111.,  where  the  father  passed  away  at  the 
age  of  seventy- three,  while  the  mother  readied 


the  allotted  age  of  three  score-years  and  ten.  Mr. 
Warren  was  a  Whig,  and  took  quite  an  active  inter- 
est in  politics.  He  was  a  well-read  man  and  was 
always  well  versed  on  questions  of  the  day.  Both 
he  and  his  wife  were  members  of  the  United  Breth- 
ren Church.  Of  their  family  of  seven  children, 
six  grew  to  manhood  and  womanhood,  but  only 
four  are  now  living. 

Our  subject  is  the  fifth  in  order  of  birth.  The 
days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth  were  quietly 
passed  upon  his  father's  farm  midst  play  and  work. 
In  the  summer  months  he  aided  in  the  labors  of 
the  field,  and  in  the  winter  months  attended  the 
district  schools,  where  he  become  familiar  with  the 
common  branches  of  English  learning.  On  attain- 
ing his  majority,  he  left  home  to  make  his  own 
way  in  the  world,  and  began  working  by  the 
month  as  a  farm  hand.  The  highest  wages  he 
received  while  engaged  in  that  labor  was  $12  pel- 
month. 

In  his  native  county,  Mr.  Warren  was  married, 
August  17,  1849,  to  Lavina  Br inker,  also  a  native 
of  Pickaway  County.  She  was  born  February  9, 
1830,  and  is  a  daughter  of  George  and  Mary 
(Shope)  Brinker.  Her  parents  were  both  born  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  were  of  German  descent.  At 
the  age  of  nineteen  her  father  left  the  Keystone 
State  and  went  to  Ohio,  where  he  married  Miss 
Shope.  Mrs.  Warren  is  the  youngest  child  and 
seventh  daughter  in  a  family  of  thirteen  children. 
Her  mother  died  when  she  was  only  four  days  old, 
after  which  her  father  married  again.  Eight  chil- 
dren have  been  born  to  our  subject  and  his  wife: 
Bennett  and  George,  who  were  born  in  Pickaway 
County;  Silas,  who  was  born  in  Christian  County; 
John  R.,  who  died  at  the  age  of  four  months; 
Sarah  E.,  Lawrence,  Mary  A.  and  Nettie  B. 

After  his  marriage,  Mr.  Warren  settled  on  a 
rented  farm  in  Pickaway  County,  which  he  oper- 
ated three  years.  He  first  came  to  Christian 
County  on  horseback  in  1851,  and  purchased  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  raw  land,  a  part  of  his 
present  farm,  paying  $3  per  acre.  The  follow- 
ing year  he  brought  his  family,  and  they  took  up 
their  residence  in  a  log  cabin,  16x16  feet,  with  a 
puncheon  floor  and  clapboard  door.  Mr.  Warren 
went  to  Springfield  and  purchased  the  first  cook 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


401 


stove  brought  to  this  neighborhood.  The  furni- 
ture consisted  of  a  set  of  common  wooden  chairs 
and  a  table,  and  they  lived  in  true  pioneer  style. 
There  were  only  nine  voters  in  what  is  now  Pana 
and  Rosemond  Townships.  With  characteristic 
energy,  Mr.  Warren  began  the  development  of  his 
farm,  and  in  his  business  undertakings  has  met 
with  excellent  success.  In  the  home  place  he  now 
owns  six  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  valuable 
land,  mostly  under  cultivation,  four  hundred  acres 
being  devoted  to  growing  hay.  He  also  owns 
three  other  farms,  including  eighty  acres  in  this 
county,  two  hundred  and  thirty  acres  in  Shelby 
County,  another  tract  of  two  hundred  acres, 
and  seventy  acres  of  timber-land,  making  alto- 
gether about  twelve  hundred  acres.  He  com- 
menced life  a  poor  boy,  but  by  his  industrious 
efforts  has  steadily  worked  his  way  upwards.  Suc- 
cess was  before  him,  and  he  possessed  the  necessary 
energy  and  perseverance  to  reach  the  goal.  With 
untiring  zeal  he  has  labored, and  is  now  numbered 
among  the  wealthy  citizens  of  Christian  County, 
a  position  which  he  has  justty  reached.  His  pros- 
perity is  certainly  well  merited.  In  politics,  Mr. 
Warren  is  a  most  ardent  Republican, but  hasnever 
been  an  office-seeker.  For  over  thirty  years  he 
has  been  connected  with  the  Masonic  fraternity. 


JOHN    HOWELL   DAWDY,    who    is   police 
magistrate  of  Pana,  is  one  of  Illinois'  na- 
tive sons,  his  birth  having  occurred  in  Ham- 
ilton County,  March  6,  1820.     His  father, 
Daniel  Dawdy,  was  a  native  of  Tennessee,  and  in 
that   State    married  Nancy  Tindall,   a    native  of 
Georgia.       He    brought  his    family  to  Illinois  in 
1818,  the  year  in  which  the  .State  was  admitted  to 
the  Union,  and  in  1828  removed  to  Shelby  County, 
locating    four  miles  north  of  Shelbyville,   where 
his  death  occurred  in  1855,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six. 
His    wife    died  a  few    months    later.     The  family 
numbered  ten  children,  five  sons  and  five  daugh- 


ters, of  whom  three  are  now  living:     Daniel  J.,  of 
Shelby  County;  Perliua,  widow  of  Joseph  Walker, 
i   of  Shelby  County;  and  John  Howell.     Henry,  the 
I   eldest  son,  served  as  Collector   of   Shelby  County 
for  several  years   in  a  verj'   early   day.     He  died 
when  a  young  man.    The  father  was  County  Com- 
missioner for  a  year,  and  served  under  Gen.  Coffee 
at  New  Orleans  during  the  War  of  1812. 

Mr.  Dawdy  whose  name  heads  this  sketch  was 
reared  to  manhood  under  the  parental  roof,  re- 
maining upon  the  home  farm  until  his  marriage,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-four.  On  the  25th  of  January, 
1844,  he  wedded  Miss  Jane  Frazcr,  of  Shelby 
County,  who  was  born  in  Kentucky,  and  when  a 
maiden  of  ten  summers  came  to  Illinois  with  her 
father,  John  Frazer,  one  of  the  early 'settlers  of 
Shelby  County.  The  young  people  began  their 
domestic  life  upon  a  farm  in  that  vicinity,  and 
thtne  remained  until  1849,  when  they  removed  to 
Shelbyville.  Mr.  Dawdy  was  appointed  Deputy 
Sheriff  of  the  county;  he  also  served  as  Constable, 
and  engaged  in  merchandising  in  that  city  for 
some  time. 

The  year  1856  witnessed  the  arrival  of  our  sub- 
ject in  Pana,  which  was  then  a  small  town  of 
about  three  hundred  inhabitants.  He  opened  a 
general  store,  which  he  carried  on  for  two  years. 
His  fellow-townsmen,  appreciating  his  worth  and 
ability,  elected  him  County  Commissioner  in  1856, 
and  for  four  years  he  acceptably  filled  that  office. 
Previously  large  tracts  of  swamp-land  had  been 
given  to  the  count}',  but  some  of  it  had  been  taken 
by  the  railroads,  and  measures  were  now  started  to 
recover  payment  for  this.  Mr.  Dawdy  was  instru- 
mental in  bringing  about  the  result,  which  secured 
$15,000  cash  for  the  county.  About  this  time  he 
began  practicing  law,  and  for  a  number  of  years  he 
followed  that  profession  in  connection  with  his  du- 
ties as  Justice  of  the  Peace.  He  is  now  serving 
his  twelfth  year  as  Police  Magistrate. 

Of  the  children  born  to  our  subject  and  his 
wife,  William  H.,  of  Greenville,  111.,  is  an  at- 
torney-at-law,  who  served  as  a  member  of  the 
State  Legislature  and  was  one  of  the  famous  one 
hundred  and  one  who  elected  Palmer;  Charles, 
who  was  engaged  in  the  grocery  trade,  died  in 
Pana  of  consumption.  They  have  also  reared 


402 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


two  girls, daughters  of  Mrs.  Dawdy's  youngest  sis- 
ter, Serilda,  wife  of  Daniel  Albro.  The  elder, 
Amanda  Albro,  became  the  wife  of  Samuel  II. 
Wright,  of  Shelby  County,  and  died  in  Pana  in 
1873.  Jennie  died  in  1874,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
two.  Their  parents  died  within  one  year  of  each 
other,  and  from  early  childhood  the  daughters  were 
members  of  the  Dawdy  family. 

For  a  number  of  years  our  subject  was  a  sup- 
porter of  the  Democracy,  but  is  now  a  stanch 
Prohibitionist,  and  although  Pana  has  been  a 
licensed  town  he  has  been  repeatedly  elected  Mag- 
istrate, a  fact  which  indicates  his  faithful  per- 
formance of  duty  and  his  popularity.  In  his  so- 
cial relations  he  is  an  Odd  Fellow  and  has  been  a 
prominent  Mason.  He  has  attended  the  Grand 
Lodge  and  is  a  Past  Master.  For  forty-six  years 
he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Christian  Church, 
and  an  earnest  laborer  in  the  cause  of  Christianity, 
doing  all  in  his  power  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel 
and  the  promotion  of  its  truths.  In  connection 
with  his  other  business  interests  he  was  engaged  in 
real-estate  dealing  for  a  number  of  years,  and  has 
been  prominent  in  the  development  of  the  coal 
interests  of  this  locality,  which  have  been  the 
making  of  Pana.  He  was  one  of  the  first  to  de- 
posit money  in  the  bank  for  the  first  boring  with 
a  diamond  drill.  No  enterprise  worthy  of  the 
support  of  the  best  people  need  be  afraid  to  seek 
the  aid  of  our  subject,  for  he  has  the  interests  of 
the  city  at  heart  and  does  all  in  his  power  to  pro- 
mote its  welfare. 


jzjjR  NDREW  BRISBEN  has  devoted  the  greater 
C*y    I     part  of  his  life  to  agricultural  pursuits,  but 
a    IB    is  now  living  retired  in  Pana,  in  the  en- 
•(t|f          joyment   of  a   rest    which    he    has    truly 
earned  and  well  deserves.     He  was  born  in  Ches- 
ter County,  Pa.,  August  18,  1815,  and  is  a  son  of 
John  and  Jane  (McNeal)  Brisben.     On  the  pater- 
nal side  he  is  of  Irish,  and  on  the  maternal  side  of 
Scotch,  descent.     His  paternal  grandfather  never 


left  the  Emerald  Isle.  John  Brisben,  who  was 
there  born,  came  to  America,  an  orphan  boy  of 
seven  years,  and  settled  in  Chester  County,  Pa., 
where  he  learned  the  blacksmith's  trade,  which  lie 
followed  during  the  greater  part  of  his  life.  In 
1818  he  removed  to  Ohio,  and  after  a  few  years 
spent  in  Harrison  County  went  to  Tuscarawas 
County,  where  he  made  his  home  until  186,5.  That 
year  witnessed  his  arrival  in  Illinois,  and  on  the 
1st  of  November  he  settled  in  Christian  County, 
on  a  farm  two  miles  east  of  Pana,  where  he  died  in 
1873,  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven  years.  His  wife 
passed  away  in  1872,  at  the  age  of  eighty-six. 
They  were  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
The  Brisben  family  numbered  seven  children,  two 
sons  and  five  daughters,  but  only  two  are  now  liv- 
ing: Margaret  Ann,  widow  of  Jacob  Huston,  of 
Urichville,  Ohio;  and  Andrew,  of  this  sketch,  who 
was  only  three  years  of  age  when  his  parents  re- 
moved to  the  Buckeye  State,  where  he  was  reared 
and  educated.  He  learned  the  blacksmith's  trade 
witli  his  father,  and  followed  that  pursuit  for  sev- 
eral years.  Under  the  parental  roof  he  remained 
until  he  had  attained  his  majority,  and  even  after 
his  marriage  he  continued  on  the  home  farm  for 
some  time.  At  length  he  opened  a  blacksmith 
shop  in  Urichville,  where  he  carried  on  business 
for  some  fifteen  years. 

On  the  23d  of  April,  1837,  was  celebrated  the 
m 'image  of  Mr.  Brisben  and  Miss  Rebecca,  daugh- 
ter of  Thomas  and  Sarah  (Rippeth)  Price,  who 
then  resided  in  Ohio,  but  were  natives  of  Virginia. 
Fourteen  children  were  born  of  this  union,  but 
several  died  in  infancy.  Sarah  Jane  and  William 
G.  died  in  childhood.  John  P.,  who  resides  in 
Lyons,  Kan.,  married  Belle  Messer,  and  they  have 
one  son,  John.  Mary  B.  is  the  wife  of  Emanuel 
Johns,  of  Washington,  by  whom  she  has  five  chil- 
dren now  living,  namely:  Charles,  Belle,  Carrie, 
Helen  and  Victor  E.  Alice,  deceased,  was  the  wife 
of  Gus  Brown,  of  Taylorville,  by  whom  she  had 
four  sons,  two  yet  living,  Bert  W.  and  Milton  O. 
Carrie  completes  the  family.  Mrs.  Brisben,  the 
mother,  died  on  the  19th  of  July,  1891,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-one  years.  She  was  a  devoted  member 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  a  lady  whose  many 
excellencies  of  character  gained  her  a  wide  circle 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


of  friends  and  acquaintances.  Her  son  John  was 
a  soldier  of  the  late  war.  lie  belonged  to  the 
Ninety-eighth  Ohio  Infantry  and  participated  in 
many  hard-fought  battles.  He  enlisted  as  Cor- 
poral and  was  mustered  out  with  the  rank  of  Cap- 
tain. After  the  war  he  served  for  twelve  years  as 
a  civil  engineer  in  Shelby  County. 

Mr.  Brisben  of  this  sketch  has  been  a  resident 
of  Christian  County  since  1865.  He  located  upon 
a  farm  near  Pana,  and  there  successfully  engaged 
in  agricultural  pursuits,  making  his  home  at  that 
place  until  after  the  death  of  his  wife.  At  length 
he  retired  from  active  business  life,  rented  his 
land  and  removed  to  the  city.  In  politics,  he  is  a 
supporter  of  the  Democracy.  He  was  elected  and 
served  as  Highway  Commissioner  one  term,  and 
was  Township  Collector  in  1868.  In  1889  he  was 
elected  Justice  of  the  Peace,  which  position  he  still 
holds.  Socially,  he  is  a  member  of  Pana  Lodge 
No.  226,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  for  many  years  has 
been  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  the 
work  of  which  lie  is  actively  interested.  Mr.  Bris- 
ben has  been  the  architect  of  his  own  fortune,  and 
has  builded  wisely  and  well. 


JOHN  VIDLER,  who  is  now  living  retired  in 
Pana,  is  a  native  of  England.    He  was  born 
in  Tichourst,   Sussex  County,  on  the  29th 
of  July,   1826,  and  there  his  boyhood  days 
were  quietly  passed.     At  the  age  of  twenty  he  be- 
gan learning  the    trade   of    brick-making,  and  in 
1853,  when  twenty-seven  years  of  age,  emigrated 
to  the  United  States.     After  crossing  the  Atlantic, 
he  spent  one  summer  in  New  York,  and  in  the  suc- 
ceeding fall  went  to  Pike  County,  111.,  locating  in 
Griggsville.     He  made  the  journey  from  Chicago 
toLaSalleby   way  of   the  Rock  Island   Railroad, 
and  by  boat  to  his  destination. 

Ere  leaving  England,  Mr.  Vidler.  was  married, 
November  1,  1851,  to  Mary  Ann  Powell,  of  Sus- 
sex County,  born  September  29, 1816.  For  a  year 
after  arriving  in  Illinois,  Mr..  Vidler  worked  by 


the  day,  tending  a  brick  mason,  and  then  engaged 
in  brick-making  for  himself,  with  a  capital  of  only 
8300,  his  hard  earned  savings  of  the  previous 
year.  He  remained  in  Griggsville  until  1866,  and 
during  his  residence  there  he  made  $4,000.  In 
that  year  he  came  to  Pana  and  opened  a  brick- 
yard. The  summer  of  1865  he  had  spent  in  Eng- 
land on  a  visit  to  friends  and  native  land.  He 
carried  on  brick-making  in  Pana  until  1881.  Af- 
ter a  few  years  his  was  the  only  manufactory  of 
the  kind  in  Pana,  and  he  built  up  a  large  trade. 
He  also  engaged  in  contracting  for  some  time, and 
as  the  result  of  his  perseverance,  enterprise  and  in- 
dustry, he  accumulated  a  handsome  competency, 
and  is  now  enabled  to  live  retired,  enjoying  the 
rest  which  he  has  so  truly  earned  and  richly  de- 
serves. 

In  1856,  Mr.  Vidler  purchased  forty  acres  of 
land  at  $75  per  acre,  and  has  also  erected  some 
residences.  However,  the  greater  part  of  his  time 
and  attention  was  given  to  the  manufacture  of 
brick.  He  exercises  his  right  of  franchise  in  sup- 
port of  the  Democratic  party,  and  has  taken  quite 
an  active  part  in  political  affairs.  His  wife  is  a 
member  of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  a  most  estima- 
ble lady.  Mr.  Vidler  may  truly  be  called  a  self- 
made  man,  for  he  started  out  empty-handed,  and 
therefore  the  success  which  has  come  to  him  is  the 
just  reward  of  his  own  labors. 

Thomas  John  Vidler,  the  only  son  of  the  gen- 
tleman mentioned  above,  is  Cashier  of  the  First 
National  Bank  of  Pana.  He  was  born  in  Griggs- 
ville, 111.,  August  16,  1858,  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools,  and  under  the  parental  roof  was 
reared  to  manhood.  On  the  19th  of  January, 
1882,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Belle, 
daughter  of  Jerry  and  Kate  (Walsh)  Hogan,  of 
Pana.  Her  father  came  to  Pana  at  the  time  of  the 
building  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  was  sec- 
tion boss  for  some  time,  and  is  now  employed  in 
the  machine  shops  of  the  company.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Vidler  now  have  three  children,  Fannie,  May  and 
Paul  John,  and  they  also  lost  one  child,  Ida,  who 
died  in  infancy. 

For  a  time  Mr.  Vidler  served  as  Assistant  Coun- 
ty Treasurer,  serving  for  three  years  in  that  ca- 
pacity under  William  J.  Jordan,  of  Pana,  and  for 


404 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


two  years  with  A.  G.  Barnes,  a  banker  of  Taylor- 
ville.  On  the  expiration  of  that  period  he  re- 
turned to  Pana,  and  opened  an  insurance  office, 
which  he  conducted  until  earnestly  solicited  by 
the  Directors  of  the  First  National  Bank  to  become 
assistant  Cashier  and  book-keeper  of  the  concern. 
For  two  years  he  held  that  position,  and  in  Jan- 
uary, 1891.  he  was  made  cashier.  He  is  a  wide- 
awake and  energetic  young  business  man,  full  of 
life  and  activity,  and  the  bank  finds  in  him  a 
trustworthy  and  efficient  employe. 


ELI  AS  P.  SANDERS,  who  is  engaged  in  gen- 
eral merchandising  in  Pana,  is  one  of  her 
honored  pioneers,  and  his  name  is  insepar- 
ably connected  with  her  history  from  the  begin- 
ning of  her  existence.  He  well  deserves  represen- 
tation in  this  volume,  and  it  is  with  pleasure  that 
we  present  his  life  record  to  our  readers.  He  was 
born  in  Montgomery  County,  111.,  May  31,  1833, 
and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Powell)  San- 
ders, who  were  natives  of  Kentucky.  His  pater- 
nal grandfather,  John  Sanders,  was  born  in  North 
Carolina,  and  in  an  early  day  emigrated  to  Ken- 
tucky, becoming  one  of  its  pioneers.  There  he 
spent  his  remaining  days,  his  death  occurring  at 
the  advanced  age  of  ninety.  The  maternal  grand- 
father was  also  born  in  North  Carolina,  and  re- 
moved to  Kentucky  when  the  Indians  were  far 
more  numerous  than  the  white  settlers.  He  fol- 
lowed agricultural  pursuits  throughout  his  entire 
life,  and  died  in  Illinois  while  visiting  relatives,  at 
the  age  of  one  hundred  years. 

In  1826,  John  Sanders  left  the  State  of  his  na- 
tivity and  settled  in  Montgomery  County,  111., 
when  it  was  still  inhabited  by  the  redmen,  and 
when  buffalo  and  deer  could  still  be  seen  on  the 
prairie.  He  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  Black  Hawk 
War.  In  1861  he  removed  to  Pana,  where  he 
passed  away  in  1864,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six.  His 
wife  survived  him  until  September,  1892,  and 
died  in  her  eighty-ninth  year.  He  was  a  member 


of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  early  life,  but  after- 
ward both  he  and  his  wife  became  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Their  family  num- 
bered twelve  children,  eight  sons  and  four  daugh- 
ters: Alvin,  Elza,  Jahn,  Ervin,  Elizabeth  (wife  of 
E.  Whitten),  Elias  P.,  Jefferson,  Robert,  Jane 
(wife  of  James  Brown),  Rebecca  (wife  of  John 
Boss),  Finley  and  Leuvina. 

Mr.  Sanders  whose  name  heads  this  record  was 
reared  among  the  wild  scenes  of  frontier  life  and 
was  early  inured  to  the  arduous  labors  of  cultivat- 
ing and  improving  a  farm.  In  1853,  when  a 
young  man  of  twenty  years,  he  cast  in  his  lot  with 
the  early  settlers  of  Christian  Count}',  and  has 
here  since  made  his  home,  with  the  exception  of 
three  years  when  he  was  steward  or  supply  agent 
for  the  army  and  navy,  with  headquarters  at 
Mound  City.  He  began  his  education  in  his  na- 
tive county,  and  his  primary  privileges  were  sup- 
plemented by  study  in  Shurtleff  College,  of  Alton. 
During  those  early  days  Mr.  Sanders  graded  for 
the  railway,  and  was  Superintendent  of  Construc- 
tion on  the  Terre  Haute,  Alton  &  St.  Louis  Rail- 
road between  Litchfield  and  Hillsboro,  in  1853.  He 
engaged  in  selling  goods  to  the  pioneers  in  Mont- 
gomery County,  and  after  his  arrival  in  Pana  car- 
ried on  general  merchandising  for  four  years.  He 
then  established  the  Central  Illinois  Democrat, 
which  he  edited  for  a  year.  About  that  time  he 
shipped  a  stock  of  dry  goods  to  Memphis,  Tenn., 
but  the  war  broke  out  and  he  did  not  unload  his 
goods,  shipping  them  back  to  Mound  City,  where 
he  carried  on  business  during  the  war.  Subse- 
quently, he  bought  a  steamboat,  and  while  run- 
ning on  the  river  made  his  home  in  Pulaski 
County,  111.,  having  there  purchased  land  of  John 
A.  McClernand,  Gov.  French  and  Gen.  Rollins. 

No  male  settler  of  Pana  who  resided  here  at 
the  time  of  Mr.  Sanders'  arrival  now  survives.  In 
fact,  he  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  and  helped 
to  bury  the  first  man  who  died  in  this  locality.  Mr. 
Sanders  built  the  first  brick  house  in  Pana,  and 
dug  the  first  cellar.  He  once  owned  the  block 
on  which  the  court  house  now  stands,  using  it  for 
a  park,  which  he  kept  full  of  deer.  He  served  as 
the  first  express  agent  of  Pana,  and  had  the  first 
money  safe  in  the  place.  From  the  beginning  he 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


405 


has  been  prominently  identified  with  all  its  growth 
and  upbuilding,  and  its  progress  and  prosperity  are 
due  in  no  small  degree  to  his  untiring  efforts  in  its 
behalf. 

Mr.  Sanders  was  married  April  23,  1854,  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  Fletcher,  daughter  of  James  and  Jane 
(Powell)  Fletcher,  natives  of  Kentucky.  Six  chil- 
dren were  born  unto  them,  four  sons  and  two 
daughters,  of  whom  Fletcher  and  Harry  died  in 
early  childhood.  Frank  married  Miss  Maggie 
Loyd,  by  whom  he  has  two  children,  Clyde  and 
Bertha,  and  is  now  occup3-ing  the  position  of 
salesman  with  the  firm  of  Barrett  &  Barrett,  of 
Chicago.  Rose,  Will  and  Zella  are  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  family.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sanders  hold 
membership  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  have  been  active  workers  in  its  interests.  He 
was  Class-leader  and  Steward  for  many  years,  and 
is  now  serving  as  Trustee.  Socially,  he  belongs 
to  Adair  Lodge  No.  334,  I.  O.  O.  F.  In  politics, 
he  is  a  Democrat,  and  for  four  years  filled  the  of- 
fice of  Justice  of  the  Peace.  From  a  financial 
standpoint,  his  life  has  also  been  successful.  He 
now  owns  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land 
in  Shelby  and  Fayette  Counties,  and  has  a  good 
home  and  other  city  property  in  Pana. 


SAMUEL  F.  WINTERS,   one    of    the  well- 
known  citizens  of  Pana  Township,  resid- 
ing on  section  20,  where  lie  owns   and  op- 
erates a  good  farm,  has  been  a  resident  of 
the  community  for  a  quarter  of   a  century,  hav- 
ing  located  here    in    the  year  1867.     Since  that 
time  many  changes  have  taken  place  in  the  coun- 
ty, and    the    work  of  development  and  progres- 
sion has  been  steadily  carried  forward.    He  always 
bears  his  part  in  everything    tending    to    promote 
the  best  interests  of  the  community,  and  is  there- 
fore recognized  as  a  valued  citizen. 

Mr.  Winters  was  born  in  Scott  County,  111.,  near 
Winchester,  September    27,    1841,   and    comes  of 


an  old  Virginian  family.  His  grandfather,  Rev. 
Nathan  Winters,  was  a  native  of  Virginia  and 
was  of  Scotch-Irish  descent.  He  became  one  of 
the  pioneer  settlers  of  what  is  now  St.  Clair 
County,  111.,  coming  to  this  State  when  it  was  yet 
a  Territory.  He  entered  land  and  began  the  de- 
velopment of  a  farm,  but  after  a  time  removed  to 
North  Missouri,  which  was  also  then  a  Territory. 
There  he  again  secured  Government  land  and  de- 
voted his  energies  to  agricultural  pursuits.  He 
was  a  preacher  of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  a  very 
prominent  man  of  his  da}'.  He  took  a  great  de- 
light in  the  chase,  especially  in  fox-hunting.  His 
death,  the  result  of  an  injury  on  horseback,  oc- 
curred when  he  was  seventy-eight  years  of  age. 

Joshua  C.  Winters,  father  of  our  subject,  was 
born  in  what  is  now  St.  Clair  County,  111.,  during 
the  territorial  days  of  the  State,  and  after  his  mar- 
riage removed  to  Scott  County,  where  he  located 
on  a  farm.  He  served  as  a  Lieutenant  in  the 
Mexican  War,  and  during  the  late  war  he  became 
a  member  of  the  Fifty-ninth  Illinois  Infantry, 
of  which  he  was  made  Lieutenant-Colonel.  He 
first  raised  a  company  in  Illinois,  and  then  joined 
the  Ninth  Missouri  Infantry,  but  was  afterwards 
made  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  Fifty-Ninth  Reg- 
iment of  Illinois  Volunteers,  as  above  stated.  Af- 
ter three  years'  service  he  resigned  and  returned 
to  Greene  County,  III.,  where  he  resumed  farming. 
In  1883,  he  removed  to  Whitehall,  where  he  is 
now  living  a  retired  life.  He  supports  the  Re- 
publican party  and  at  one  time  took  quite  a  prom- 
inent  part  in  politics,  holding  many  offices. 

The  Winters  family  numbers  seven  sons:  Frank 
M.,  now  of  Whitehall,  111.;  Samuel  F.,  of  this 
sketch;  G.  L.,  an  attorney  of  Trenton,  Mo.;  Solon, 
of  Assumption;  Josiah,  Joseph  us  and  Byron,  all 
of  Whitehall. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared  in  Morgan 
and  Scott  Counties,  and  continued  to  give  his  fa- 
ther the  benefit  of  his  services  until  the  war  broke 
out,  when,  in  1861,  he  enlisted  and  was  assigned 
to  Company  A,  Sixty-first  Illinois  Infantry,  with 
which  he  remained  for  two  and  a-half  years,  par- 
ticipating in  many  important  battles,  among  oth- 
ers that  of  Shiloh.  He  was  then  discharged  at  Bul- 
wer,  Tenn.,  but  re-enlisted  the  same  year  in  Com- 


406 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


pany  A,  One  Hundred  and  Thirty-third  Infantry, 
as  a  private.  He  continued  with  that  command 
until  mustered  out  in  1864.  He  was  a  faithful  and 
valiant  soldier.  The  country  has  cause  to  grate- 
fully remember  her  boys  in  blue  who  defended  the 
Union  and  placed  the  United  States  of  America  in 
the  foremost  rank  among  the  countries  of  the 
world. 

Mr.  Winters  came  to  Christian  County  in  1864, 
and  at  once  turned  his  attention  to  agricultural 
pursuits.  March  25,  1867,  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Miss  Laura  F.,  daughter  of  Harrison  and 
Martha  (Kirgan)  Day,  and  a  native  of  Carrollton, 
Greene  County,  111.,  born  April  1,  1849.  They 
began  their  domestic  life  upon  a  farm  in  Pan  a 
Township,  which  has  since  been  their  residence, 
and  their  home  has  been  blessed  with  the  presence 
of  four  sons  and  one  daughter:  Byron  N.,  Forest 
D.  M.,  Jessie  E.,  Sydney  F.  and  Colonel  Logan. 

Mr.  Winters  carries  on  general  farming,  owning 
one  hundred  .and  eighty-one  acres  of  rich  land, 
which  is  all  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation  and 
in  return  for  his  care  and  labor  yields  to  him  a  good 
income.  In  addition  he  also  engages  in  auc- 
tioneering. He  is  a  man  of  good  business  abil- 
ity and  has  met  with  success  in  his  undertakings. 
In  politics,  he  is  a  Republican  and  is  now  serving 
as  Assistant  Supervisor  of  Pana  Township.  So- 
cially, he  is  a  member  of  Pope  Post  No.  411, 
G.  A.  R.,  of  Pana,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Pana 
Protective  Association.  A  valiant  defender  of 
his  country,  a  faithful  citizen  in  times  of  peace, 
and  a  practical  and  progressive  agriculturist,  he 
well  deserves  representation  in  this  volume. 


OLIVER  RUSSELL,  proprietor  of 

lhe  City  Mills  °f  Pana'  wilh  which  llc  has 

been  connected  since  1879,  is  a  native  of 
the  Pine  Tree  State,  his  birth  having  occurred  in 
Somerset  County,  on  the  22d  of  July,  1835.  No 
event  of  special  importance  occurred  during  his 
youth,  which  was  quietly  passed  upon  his  father's 


farm.  When  a  young  man  of  twenty-two  years, 
he  left  the  State  of  his  nativity,  and  in  1857  emi- 
grated Westward  to  Illinois,  locating  in  Pulaski 
County,  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State.  He 
had  been  reared  in  a  lumber  region,  and  became 
familiar  with  the  workings  of  a  sawmill.  After 
his  arrival  in  this  State,  he  secured  employment  in 
a  sawmill,  and  to  that  work  devoted  his  energies 
for  two  years. 

On  the  expiration  of  that  period,  Mr.  Russell  re- 
turned to  Maine  and  was  married.  On  the  4th  of 
January,  1860,  he  wedded  Miss  Adeline  French,  a 
friend  of  his  youth,  who  has  since  been  his  faithful 
companion  and  helpmate,  sharing  with  him  the 
joys  and  sorrows  of  life,  its  adversity  and  prosper- 
ity. They  had  no  children  of  their  own,  but  have 
reared  an  adopted  daughter,  Lulu,  who  is  now  a 
young  lady  of  twenty-one.  She  has  lived  with 
them  since  her  third  year. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Russell  began  their  domestic  life 
upon  a  farm  in  Somerset  County,  Me.,  and  he  con- 
tinued its  cultivation  with  good  success  until 
1869,  when  he  again  sought  a  home  in  the  West, 
locating  in  Pana.  During  the  succeeding  ten 
years  of  his  life  he  was  engaged  at  work  in  a  sash, 
door  and  blind  factory.  He  then  invested  about 
$2,000  in  the  City  Mills,  and  in  1879  became  pro- 
prietor of  the  same  as  a  partner  of  Adam  Miller. 
The  plant  at  that  time  was  worth  about  $15,000. 
In  1886,  Mr.  Russell  became  sole  proprietor.  He 
has  since  remodeled  and  repaired  the  mill,  fitting 
it  out  with  complete  roller-process  machinery,  and 
it  now  has  a  daily  capacity  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  barrels  of  flour.  The  favorite  brands 
which  he  manufactures  are  Golden  Sheaf,  Favorite 
and  Gold  Band.  He  does  a  merchant  and  general 
exchange  business,  and  is  now  enjoying  a  liberal 
patronage,  which  lias  constantly  increased  from  the 
beginning.  He  also  deals  in  all  kinds  of  grain 
grown  in  this  part  of  the  State,  as  well  as  Imy,  and 
ships  to  the  principal  markets  of  the  country.  Mr. 
Russell  has  been  very  successful  in  his  undertak- 
ings, and  nearly  all  of  his  property  has  been  ac- 
quired during  his  residence  in  Pana. 

Our  subject  is  a  stalwart  supporter  of  the  Re- 
publican party,  but  has  never  been  an  office-seeker, 
although  for  five  years  he  served  as  a  member  of 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


407 


the  School  Board.  He  takes  considerable  interest 
in  civic  societies,  is  a  Royal  Arch  Mason,  an  Odd 
Fellow  and  a  member  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias. 
He  also  belongs  to  the  Encampment,  and  lias  at- 
tended the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  Independent  Or- 
der of  Odd  Fellows.  In  manner  Mr.  Russell  is 
cordial  and  pleasant,  and  has  those  sterling  quali- 
ties of  character  which  win  confidence  and  respect 
for  the  possessor  wherever  he  goes. 


0ASSIUS  B.  TRACY,  a  photographer  of  Pana, 
and  one  of  the  well-known  and  representa- 
tive business  men,  was  born  in  Illinois,  his 
birth  having  occurred  near  Carthage,  in  Hancock 
County,  on  the  31st  of  August,  1856.  He  is  the 
only  son  of  Elias  and  Damans  (Lemon)  Tracy, 
the  former  a  native  of  Ohio,  and  the  latter  of  tin's 
.State.  The  father  was  a  lumber-dealer,  carrying 
on  business  in  Carthage  and  Augusta  for  some 
years.  He  died  in  Independence,  Kan.,  about 
1881,  at  the  age  of  fifty.  His  wife  survives  him 
and  is  now  living  in  Denver,  Colo.  Like  her 
husband,  she  is  a  member  of  the  Christian  Church. 
Besides  our  subject  they  had  two  daughters,  Min- 
tie,  and  Candace,  wife  of  Col.  A.  M.  York, ex-Sen- 
ator of  Kansas,  now  living  in  La  Porte,  Tex. 

The  Tracy  family  is  of  Scotch  origin  and  was 
founded  in  America  at  an  early  day.  The  grand- 
father of  our  subject,  George  Tracy,  was  a  native 
of  Virginia.  By  occupation  he  was  a  farmer,  and 
also  a  Close-Communion  Baptist  preacher.  He 
died  in  Illinois  at  the  age  of  fifty  years.  The  ma- 
ternal  grandfather,  Hardin  Lemon,  was  a  native  of 
Kentucky  and  was  born  of  Irish  parentage.  He, 
too,  followed  agricultural  pursuits  as  a  means  of 
livelihood.  He  reached  the  allotted  age  of  three- 
score years  and  ten. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  resided  in  the  county 
of  his  nativity  until  sixteen  years  of  age  and  there 
acquired  the  greater  part  of  his  education.  His 
boyhood  days  were  spent  midst  play  and  work, 
but  when  a  youth  of  sixteen  he  began  learning 


photograph;,  which  he  has  since  followed,  making 
it  his  life  labor.  Ho  is  a  young,  wide-awake  and 
ambitious  man,  and  his  business  career  will  no 
doubt  prove  one  of  success.  On  the  6th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1882,  Mr.  Tracy  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Miss  Carrie  Davis,  daughter  of  Duane  T.  and 
Frances  A.  (Dudley)  Davis,  who  are  natives  of 
Pennsylvania  but  now  reside  in  Pana.  The 
union  of  this  young  couple  has  been  blessed  by 
two  children,  a  son  and  daughter,  Ralph  D.  and 
lone  T. 

Socially,  Mr.  Tracy  is  connected  with  Pana 
Lodge  No.  226,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  and  is  a  member  of 
Litha  Lodge  No.  159,  K.  P.  He  also  belongs  to 
the  Modern  Woodmen  of  America.  He  has  some 
good  property  in  the  city,  including  his  own  resi- 
dence. The  Tracy  household  is  the  abode  of  hos- 
pitality, its  doors  being  ever  open  for  the  recep- 
tion of  the  many  friends  of  our  subject  and  his 
wife,  who  are  widely  and  favorably  known  in  this 
communitj'  and  rank  high  in  social  circles.  Mr. 
Tracy  is  now  well  established  in  business  and  has 
a  well-nppointed  and  equipped  gallery,  where  he 
does  all  kinds  of  first-class  work  in  his  line. 


,1 LLIAM  ARMSTRONG  is  one  of  the  large 
land-owners  and  wealthy  farmers  of  Mos- 
quito Township,  and  makes  his  home  on 
section  30.  His  father,  William  Armstrong,  Sr., 
was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  county,  and 
was  born  in  Orange  County,  N.  C.,  May  1,  1806. 
His  great-great-grandfather  was  born  in  Ireland 
and  settled  in  North  Carolina  in  Colonial  days. 
The  great-grandfather  was  born  in  1736,  and  served 
in  the  Continental  army  during  the  whole  of  the 
Revolutionary  War.  He  took  part  in  several  bat- 
tles, being  twice  taken  prisoner  by  the  British. 
His  son  James  was  also  born  in  North  Carolina, 
and  wedded  Mary  Allen,  who  was  of  English  de- 
scent. 

The    father  of    our  subject  removed   with  his 
parents  to  Tennessee  in   1812,  where  on  arriving 


408 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD 


at  man 's  estate  he  wedded  Martha  Oldbain,  a  na- 
tive of  Virginia.  Mr.  Armstrong  first  visited  Illi- 
nois in  1836,  and  entered  land  in  Logan  County. 
Returning  the  next  year,  he  brought  his  family  to 
this  Slate  and  continued  to  live  until  1865  in  San- 
gamon  County.  At  that  time  he  located  in  Chris- 
tian County,  where  he  is  still  engaged  in  farming. 
His  first  wife  died  in  Tennessee,  and  in  June, 
1837,  he  married  Statira  Fickland,  a  native  of 
Montgomery  County, Ky.  Mr.  Armstrong  has  had 
ten  children,  of  whom  six  are  now  living.  John 
A.  is  a  resident  of  Blue  Mound,  111.;  James  T. 
lives  in  Missouri;  Ann  M.  is  the  wife  of  Mr.  Hous- 
ley,  of  Mosquito  Township;  William  is  our  subject; 
George  W.  died  in  1868  and  lies  buried  in  Grove 
Cit}'  Cemetery;  Daniel  C.  is  a  farmer  of  this  town- 
ship; Emrna  C.,  who  died  in  1872,  was  buried  in 
Grove  City  Cemetery;  Edwin  A.  died  in  infancy; 
and  Leander,  who  was  in  the  service  during  the 
late  war,  died  in  1866,  from  disease  contracted  in 
the  service.  John  A.  and  James  T.  were  also  in  the 
army,  the  latter  in  the  Seventy-third  Illinois  In- 
fantry, and  the  former  in  the  Third  Illinois  Cav- 
alry. The  father  was  for  four  years  Associate 
Judge  of  the  County  Court  in  Sangamon  County. 
Since  1824,  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Method- 
ist Church.  Though  born  in  a  slave-holding  com- 
munity, he  was  always  opposed  to  the  system, 
and  for  that  reason  removed  to  a  free  State.  He 
was  a  stanch  Union  man  during  the  war,  was  for- 
merly a  Whig,  and  since  the  organization  of  tiie 
Republican  party  has  been  one  of  its  supporters. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  started  out  to  earn 
his  own  livelihood  in  1868,  and  chose  as  his  help- 
mate Miss  Ann  Rebecca  Housley,  their  marriage 
being  celebrated  November  7,  1868.  The  lady 
was  bora  in  Ohio,  and  is  of  German  descent.  Six 
children  have  been  born  to  this  worthy  couple, 
George  W.,  Lewis  C.,  Robert,  Winona  E.,  Harry 
S.  and  Jessie,  who  are  all  at  home  and  have  been 
educated  in  this  county.  Robert  has  also  further 
pursued  his  studies  for  two  years  in  Burkville 
College. 

The  farm  now  carried  on  by  Mr.  Armstrong 
comprises  four  hundred  and  forty-five  acres  of 
land.  He  was  given  a  start  in  life  by  his  father, 
but  has  added  many  acres  to  the  property  origin- 


ally given  him.  He  has  a  pleasant  and  commodi- 
ous residence  and  has  made  many  substantial  ad- 
ditions to  his  farm.  Since  becoming  a  voter,  Mr. 
Armstrong  has  been  identified  with  the  Repub- 
lican party,  and  though  he  takes  an  active  part  in 
politics  is  not  an  office-seeker.  Socially,  he  is 
connected  with  the  Masonic  order,  and  his  estima- 
ble wife  is  a  member  of  the  Christian  Church. 
The}-  enjoy  the  friendship  and  high  regard  of  the 
entire  community  in  which  they  live,  and  this  is 
well  deserved,  for  they  are  good  neighbors  and 
friendly  and  hospitable  to  one  and  all. 


&jjK  MOS  A.  RHODES,  who  is  now  living  a  re- 
laOi  tired  life  on  his  farm  on  section  17,  Paua 

|n»i  Township,  was  born  in  Shelby  County, 
'%jj  111.,  May  23,  1841.  He  traces  his  ances- 
try back  to  one  of  the  Revolutionary  heroes,  his 
great-grandfather,  Hezekiah  Rhodes,  having  been 
a  soldier  in  the  War  for  Independence.  The  fam- 
ily is  of  Scotch-Irish  descent.  The  grandfather, 
Jesse  Rhodes,  was  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  and 
a  farmer  by  occupation.  In  1830  he  came  to 
Shelby  County,  111.,  and  was  one  of  the  Commis- 
sioners appointed  by  the  Governor  to  select  a  site 
for  the  county  seat  of  Maeon  County,  and  was 
one  of  the  three  that  located  the  same  where  De- 
catur  now  stands.  In  politics,  he  was  a  Democrat 
and  was  honored  with  a  number  of  public  offices. 

James  M.  Rhodes,-father  of  our  subject,  was  born 
and  reared  in  Wilson  County,  Tenn.  The  mother 
bore  the  maiden  name  of  Permetty  Wakefield.  She 
was  born  October  13,  1824,  in  Shelby  County,  111., 
and  is  the  oldest  native  citizen  of  Shelby  County 
now  living,  and  now  resides  with  her  son  Amos  at 
Pana.  Her  father,  Andrew  Wakefleld,  was  born  in 
Georgia,  and  became  a  pioneer  of  Shelby  County. 
About  1820,  locating  on  what  became  known  as 
the  Wakefield  settlement,  he  entered  land  from  the 
Government,  and  was  thus  one  of  the  first  perma- 
nent settlers.  Indians  were  still  numerous  in  the 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


409 


neighborhood,  and  everything  was  in  its  primitive 
condition.  His  deatli  occurred  at  the  age  of  forty- 
eight  years.  His  mother's  father  and  mother, 
Charles  and  Anna  Wakefield,  were  born  on  the 
same  ship  while  their  respective  parents  were 
crossing  the  Atlantic  to  America. 

The  parents  of  our  subject  were  married  in 
Shelby  County  in  1840.  The  father  was  one  of 
the  pioneer  teachers  of  that  locality  and  was  an 
extensive  farmer.  His  death  occurred  in  Shelby 
County  at  the  age  of  forty-three.  In  the  family 
there  were  but  two  sons,  Amos  and  Jesse.  The 
latter  was  born  in  1844,  and  died  in  the  service  of 
his  coutitry  in  1864,  from  disease  contracted  in  the 
army.  lie  was  a  member  of  Company  G,  One 
Hundred  and  Forty-third  Illinois  Infantry.  Amos 
was  reared  in  his  native  county,  and  the  first 
school  which  he  attended  convened  in  a  log  cabin, 
his  father  being  the  teacher.  During  the  time  of 
the  late  war  he  was  a  student  in  Quincy  Col- 
lege, and  would  have  graduated  in  1863,  had 
not  the  Government  appropriated  the  building  for 
a  hospital.  In  1864  Mr.  Rhodes  embarked  in  the 
grocery  business  in  Pana,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Eichelberger  &  Rhodes,  which  he  carried  on  for 
five  years,  and  then  engaged  in  the  real-estate 
business.  In  1873  he  was  elected  County  Treas- 
urer and  ex-officio  County  Collector  on  the  Demo- 
cratic ticket,  and  held  that  office  for  six  years, 
having  been  re-elected  at  the  two  succeeding  elec- 
tions. When  his  term  had  expired,  in  the  year 
1879,  lie  retired  to  his  farm  two  miles  south  of 
Pana,  having  resolved  to  live  a  private  life, 
but  later  held  the  office  of  Township  Super- 
visor for  three  terms,  and  in  the  year  1884 
was  again  called  to  the  county  seat,  being  elected 
Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court,  which  position  he  ac- 
ceptably filled  for  four  years.  Declining  to  be 
nominated  again,  he  returned  to  his  present  farm 
of  eighty  acres,  lying  just  west  of  Pana,  where  he 
has  since  lived  retired. 

Mr.  Rhodes  was  married  January  2,  1865,  to 
Miss  Dora,  daughter  of  Ignatz  Jageman,  of  Madi- 
son County.  She  was  born  in  Hesse-Darmstadt, 
Germany,  and  when  she  was  six  years  of  age  the 
family  settled  in  Trenton,  N.  J.  Her  father  was  a 
prominent  man,  being  Burgomaster  of  Furth,  his 


native  city.  Four  children  were  born  unto  our 
subject  and  his  wife:  Edward  J.,  who  is  Deputy 
Circuit  Clerk  of  Christian  County  and  resides  in 
Taylorville;  Charles  A., Deputy  County  Clerk,  and 
also  living  in  Taylorville;  and  two  sons  who  died 
in  infancy.  Mr.  Rhodes  is  a  member  of  Pana 
Lodge  No.  226,  A.  F.&  A.  M.,and  of  Orient  Chap- 
ter, O.  E.  S. 

Mr.  Rhodes  has  been  called  upon  to  mourn  the 
loss  of  his  life  companion,  she  being  called  hence  on 
the  6th  of  May,  1892,  as  the  result  of  a  lingering 
illness.  She  was  a  lady  of  education  and  refine- 
ment, and  had  good  advantages  in  both  German 
and  English,  having  finished  her  education  in 
Trenton,  N.  J.  A  lady  of  wide  acquaintance, 
her  place  in  the  community  will  be  difficult  to 
fill.  Mr.  Rhodes  was  elected  in  the  j'ear  1868  the 
first  City  Clerk  of  Pana,  and  held  that  office  for 
three  successive  terms.  In  the  various  offices  in 
which  he  has  been  called  upon  to  serve,  he  has 
discharged  his  duties  with  a  promptness  and  fidel- 
ity that  have  won  him  high  commendation.  He  is 
true  to  every  public  and  private  trust,  and  naught 
is  said  against  him  in  the  community  where  he 
has  so  long  made  his  home. 


RS.  MELINDA  JACOBS  is  one  of  the  pio- 
neers of  Illinois,  her  father  having  settled 
in  Sangamon  County  at  a  very  early  day. 
For  over  forty  years  she  has  been  a  resi- 
dent of  Christian  County,  and  is  now  passing  her 
declining  years  at  her  pleasant  home,  which  is  sit- 
uated on  section  26,  Prairieton  Township.  Her 
birth  occurred  August  9,  1837,  in  Sangamon 
County.  Her  father,  David  Hayes,  was  born  in 
Union  County,  S.  C.  When  he  was  a  child  of 
four  years  he  went  with  his  father,  William  Hayes, 
to  Indiana,  where  he  grew  to  manhood.  After  his 
marriage  he  removed  to  Illinois  and,  as  previously 
mentioned,  took  up  his  abode  in  Sangamon  County, 
this  being  in  1830.  After  his  first  wife's  death, 
he  married  Mrs.  Nancy  (Hall)  Taylor,  a  widow, 


410 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


who  was  born  in  Pittsylvania  County,  Va.  AVhen 
a  young  girl  of  fourteen  years  she  emigrated  to 
Indiana,  where  she  married  William  Taylor. 

David  Hayes  engaged  in  farming  in  Sangamon 
County  until  1849,  when  he  removed  to  this 
county  and  here  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life, 
dying  in  July,  1886,  honored  and  respected  by  all. 
His  wife  is  still  living,  residing  on  the  old  home- 
stead with  her  daughter,  and  lias  attained  the  ripe 
old  age  of  ninety-three  years. 

Mrs.  Jacobs  was  only  twelve  years  old  when 
her  parents  removed  with  their  family  to  Christian 
County.  Prior  to  this  time  she  had  received  fair 
school  advantages,  and  on  arriving  at  womanhood 
she  gave  her  hand  in  marriage  to  George  W.  Ja- 
cobs, the  ceremony  being' performed  in  March, 
1857.  Mr.  Jacobs  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  and 
with  his  parents  came  to  Illinois,  settling  in  this 
locality  about  1826.  The  young  couple  settled 
on  the  farm  where  Mrs.  Jacob  is  still  living  soon 
after  their  marriage.  The  farm  then  comprised 
only  eighty  acres  of  wild  prairie  land,  entirely 
unimproved.  They  were  industrious  and  undis- 
mayed at  the  work  before  them,  and  together  they 
wrought  out  an  enviable  success.  Being  frugal, 
they  laid  by  money  and  invested  in  more  land,  un- 
til at  the  time  of  Mr.  Jacobs'  death  their  farm 
numbered  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres.  He 
was  a  successful  farmer  and  a  business  man  of 
good  ability.  He  was  much  respected  in  this  en- 
tire region,  and  when  he  was  called  from  the  scenes 
of  this  life  in  March,  1872,  his  loss  was  deeply  and 
sincerely  mourned.  His  last  resting-place  is  in  the 
Jacobs  Cemetery,  the  grave  being  marked  by  a 
substantial  monument.  The  union  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Jacobs  was  blessed  by  three  children.  Me- 
linda  is  the  wife  of  James  Northcut,  of  Trinidad, 
Colo.;  Grant,  who  is  well  educated  and  is  a  young 
man  of  good  ability,  is  now  carrying  on  the  home 
place;  and  Ida  May  is  the  wife  of  Charles  Rice, 
who  is  well  known  in  Prairieton  Township.  By  a 
former  marriage  Mr.  Jacobs  had  four  children. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Jacobs  was  a  Douglas  Democrat. 
During  the  war  he  was  a  supporter  of  the  Union 
cause  and  became  an  adherent  of  the  Republican 
party.  Mrs,  Jacobs  is  a  member  of  the  Christian 
Church  and  is  greatly  interested  in  its  growth  and 


prosperity.  She  is  a  lady  of  unusual  business  ca- 
pacity and  has  shown  herself  fully  competent 
to  carry  on  her  farm  and  conduct  her  business  in- 
terests. She  is  a  lady  of  noble  Christian  charac- 
ter and  is  greatly  loved  and  esteemed  by  all  who 
have  the  pleasure  of  her  acquaintance.  For  forty- 
four  years  she  has  been  a  resident  of  this  county, 
and  is  well  worthy  of  a  place  among  the  honored 
settlers  of  this  region. 


P.  LAWRENCE,  who  for  many 
years  has  creditably  filled  the  office  of  Jus- 
tice  of  the  Peace  in  Pana,  and  is  one  of  the 
well-known  and  popular  citizens,  was  born  in  Nor- 
folk, Litchfield  County,  Conn.,  on  the  20th  of  No- 
vember, 1830.  His  father,  E.  Grove  Lawrence, 
was  a  native  of  New  York,  but  was  reared  in  Con- 
necticut, where  he  met  and  married  Jerusha  Stevens, 
a  native  of  the  Nutmeg  State. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  spent  his  early  boy- 
hood upon  his  father's  farm  and  in  a  store  at  Nor- 
folk, his  father  being  a  merchant  at  that  place. 
He  remained  under  the  parental  roof  until  he  had 
attained  his  majority.  lie  was  well  educated,  and 
after  enjoying  the  privileges  afforded  by  the  pub- 
lic schools,  he  entered  Yale  College,  in  1852,  pur- 
sued the  classical  course,  and  was  graduated  in 
1856  in  a  class  of  more  than  one  hundred.  Two 
of  the  Judges  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court 
were  among  its  members,  Judge  Brewer  and  Judge 
Brown,  also  Chauncey  M.  Depew.  The  father  of  our 
subject  was  extensively  engaged  in  the  manufac- 
ture and  sale  of  dry  goods,  and  invested  some  of 
his  capital  in  farm  lands  in  the  West.  His  son 
Grove,  after  leaving  college,  came  to  the  West  in 
order  to  superintend  the  business  affairs  connected 
with  the  farm,  and  in  the  fall  of  1859  he  opened  a 
store  in  Paua,  which  lie  carried  on  in  connection 
with  the  management  of  his  father's  interests. 
He  improved  a  farm  of  four  hundred  and  eighty 
acres,  which  is  still  owned  by  Mr.  Lawrence,  Sr., 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


411 


who  is  yet  living  in  Norfolk,  Conn.,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-seven  years.  He  also  has  other  landed  in- 
terests in  the  southern  part  of  the  State. 

Our  subject  carried  on  general  merchandising 
from  1859  until  1863,  when  he  disposed  of  the 
store  and  returned  to  Connecticut  to  die,  as  he 
thought.  He  had  been  in  VCIT  poor  health  for 
some  time,  and  his  physicians  gave  him  no  encour- 
agement. He  went  to  the  East,  spent  a  number 
of  weeks  in  travel,  and  after  a  few  months  again 
came  to  this  State  with  health  restored.  In  1867 
he  went  in  company  with  the  Exchange  Bank  in 
connection  with  J.  C.  Hclmick,  who  died  two  years 
later,  while  Mr.  Lawrence  still  lives  and  is  quite 
robust.  He  carried  on  his  banking  operations  un- 
til 1873,  when,  in  the  spring  of  that  year,  he  em- 
barked in  railroad  construction  in  Missouri,  on  a 
line  from  Keokuk.  Iowa,  to  Kansas  City.  About 
sixteen  miles  were  built,  and  the  work  seemed  to 
be  progressing  finely.  The  counties  through  which 
the  road  was  to  pass  assisted  in  its  construction, 
but  repudiated  the  bonds,  and  in  the  financial 
panic  of  1873  the  concern  was  closed  up.  Mr. 
Lawrence  having  gone  security  on  the  construc- 
tion, and  the  venture  proving  a  failure,  heavy 
losses  were  brought  upon  him,  and  he  was  forced 
to  close  his  bank,  being  left  without  a  dollar. 
Later  he  became  manager  for  his  father's  interests. 
He  carried  matters  along  until  1878,  and  during 
that  time  paid  nearly  all  of  his  creditors.  He 
then  accepted  the  benefit  afforded  by  the  bank- 
rupt act.  There  had  been  $5,000,000  issued  in 
bonds  and  contracted  for  the  road,  but  on  account 
of  the  financial  crisis  of  1873  they  were  not  dis- 
posed of. 

Turning  from  the  public  to  the  private  life  of 
Mr.  Lawrence,  we  note  that  on  the  26th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1866,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Ella  B.,  daughter  of  Dr.  D.  H.  Blackburn.  Her 
father  died  about  a  year  ago,  but  her  mother  is 
still  living  in  Pana.  Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lawrence 
have  been  born  three  children:  E.  Grove,  of  St. 
Louis,  Mo.,  who  is  now  engaged  as  contracting 
agent  of  the  Tennessee,  Virginia  &  Georgia  Rail- 
road; Hiram  A.,  at  home;  and  Lyda  B.,  who  is 
now  engaged  in  teaching  music. 

Mr.  Lawrence  is  now  serving   his   twelfth   year 


as  Justice  of  the  Peace.  He  has  proved  himself 
an  able  and  competent  officer,  and  is  also  a  popu- 
lar one,  and  no  higher  testimonial  to  his  ability 
could  be  given  than  his  repeated  re-election.  With 
the  Presbyterian  Church  he  holds  membership, 
and  lakes  an  active  interest  in  all  that  goes  to 
promote  its  growth  and  upbuilding.  The  cause 
of  temperance  finds  in  him  a  warm  friend,  and  he 
votes  with  the  Prohibition  party.  His  influence 
was  largely  felt  in  securing  an  anti-license  vote  in 
Pana.  He  is  ever  on  the  side  of  law  and  order, 
morality  and  upright  living,  and  his  own  honor- 
able career  has  gained  him  universal  confidence 
and  esteem. 


C^1^jr_^»  fT^L 
i — 'I  •«?'  T  '  >>t3 


IF^ICHARD  LARGE,  a  retired  farmer  resid- 
|Ufj^  ing  in  Taylorville,  has  lived  a  busy  and 
^>\.  useful  life,  and  now  in  his  declining  years 
is  enjoying  a  well-earned  rest.  He  claims 
the  Emerald  Isle  as  the  land  of  his  birth,  which 
occurred  on  the  19th  of  September,  1821,  in 
Queens  County,  thirty  miles  from  Dublin.  His 
father,  George  Large,  was  twice  married.  In  1824 
he  started  with  his  family  for  Canada,  crossing  the 
Atlantic  in  a  sailing-vessel,  and  three  weeks  after 
reaching  his  destination  died,  leaving  his  widow 
with  six  children.  The  family  located  near  Ni- 
agara Falls,  in  Canada,  where  they  remained  until 
1828,  when  they  removed  to  what  is  now  Noble 
Count}-,  Ohio,  where  Mrs.  Large  had  a  sister  liv- 
ing. They  purchased  a  tract  of  timber-laud,  and 
in  the  midst  of  the  forest  hewed  out  a  farm. 
Henry  Large,  the  only  survivor  of  the  family  be- 
sides our  subject,  is  still  living  on  the  old  home- 
stead, and  is  now  worth  $300,000. 

Richard  Large  aided  his  mother  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  her  land,  and  remained  under  the  parental 
roof  until  eighteen  years  old,  when  he  started  out 
in  life  for  himself.  At  that  time  he  became  an  ap- 
prentice lo  Robert  Adair,  of  Guernsey  County. 
Ohio,  serving  a  three-years  term  at  cabinet-mak- 
ing. During  the  first  two  years  he  received  $33 


412 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


a  year,  and  for  the  last  year  $66.  When  his  term 
expired  lie  followed  carpentering  during  the  sum- 
mer months,  and  in  the  winter  season  worked  for 
his  old  employer. 

Mr.  Large  was  married  in  Senecaville  in  the 
fall  of  1844,  the  lady  of  his  choice  being  Mar- 
garet McGinnis.  'There  they  began  their  domes- 
tic life,  but  in  1846  they  removed  to  Whigville, 
and  there,  building  a  shop  and  home,  Mr.  Large 
earned  on  business  until  1856.  However,  in  the 
latter  part  of  1852,  he  went  by  water  to  Califor- 
nia, where  for  a  few  weeks  he  engaged  in  mining, 
and  then  resumed  his  trade,  carrying  on  a  sasli 
and  door  factory  in  Nevada,  Cal.,  until  1855, 
when  he  returned  to  his  home  in  the  Buckeye 
State.  The  same  fall  he  came  to  Illinois  and  pur- 
chased seventy  acres  of  land  at  $6  per  acre  on 
Buckeye  Prairie,  in  Christian  County.  A  few 
years  later  he  bought  another  seventy-acre  tract 
at  $15  per  acre,  and  in  1856  lie  brought  his  fam- 
ily to  Christian  County.  For  a  year  he  worked 
in  Taylorville  at  cabinet-making,  but  in  the  spring 
of  1857  removed  to  the  farm,  which  he  operated 
successfully  until  the  death  of  his  wife,  which  oc- 
curred February  9,  1876. 

The  family  of  Richard  Large  numbered  seven 
children.  Elizabeth  Ann,  who  became  the  wife  of 
Frank  M.  Winters,  of  Locust  Township,  died  in 
1890;  Noah  H.,  of  Millersvillc,  is  a  dealer  in 
horses  and  cattle,  and  is  now  Supervisor  of  Lo- 
cust Township;  Eveline  C.  is  the  wife  of  E.  W. 
Cleary,  who  is  now  living  on  the  old  homestead 
in  Locust  Township;  Samuel  Lewis  and  Henry 
Melchior  are  now  in  the  West;  Alfred  Bronson 
died  in  1879,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one;  and  Cora 
Illinois  is  the  wife  of  Clarence  Hunter,  of  Rose- 
inond  Township.  Mr.  Large  was  again  married, 
in  Noble  County,  Ohio,  February  24,  1878,  his 
second  union  being  with  Mrs.  Martha  A.  Hobaugh. 
She  is  a  daughter  of  James  W.  and  Henrietta  S. 
(Round)  Shankland,  and  in  November,  1843,  be- 
came the  wife  of  William  O.  P.  Hobaugh.  They 
made  their  home  in  Monroe  County,  Ohio,  until 
April,  1866,  when  they  removed  to  St.  Louis, 
where  the  husband  died  of  cholera  in  September. 
1866.  They  had  a  family  of  live  children.  Eliza 
C.  is  now  the  wife  of  B.  F.  Brua,  a  photographer 


of  Lyons,  Kan.;  Emma  F.  is  living  in  New  York; 
and  the  others  are  deceased. 

After  their  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Large  re- 
turned to  Illinois  and  located  upon  a  farm,  where 
they  made  their  home  until  1882.  In  that  year 
they  removed  to  Taylorville,  where  they  have 
since  resided.  Their  home  is  beautifully  located, 
and  their  residence  is  a  neat  and  tasty  dwelling, 
comfortably  furnished.  Mr.  Large  still  owns  his 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  forty  acres  in  Locust 
Township,  and  it  yields  him  a  good  income.  His 
successful  management  of  business  in  former  years, 
and  his  well-directed  efforts,  have  made  him  one 
of  the  substantial  citizens  of  the  community,  and 
he  is  therefore  now  enabled  to  live  a  retired  life. 
In  politics,  he  was  a  Democrat  prior  to  the  war, 
but  on  the  organization  of  the  Republican  party 
he  joined  its  ranks,  and  continued  one  of  its  sup- 
porters until  1884,  since  which  time  he  has  been 
an  advocate  of  the  Prohibition  party. 


&m  NDREW  B.  CHAPMAN,  whose  commodi- 
@/u[,  ous  home  is  on  section  19,  Prairieton 

I  Is  Township,  has  been  for  nearly  half  a  cen- 
^jj  tury  an  honored  citizen  of  Christian 
County.  He  claims  Connecticut  as  his  native 
State,  his  birth  having  occurred  in  New  London 
County,  on  the  29th  of  February,  1824,  and  while 
he  is  nearly  seventy  years,  of  age,  he  has  never 
witnessed  but  seventeen  birthdays.  He  is  of  the 
fourth  generation,  all  bearing  the  name  of  Andrew, 
removed  from  John  Chapman,  who  was  an  English 
sailor,  who  founded  this  family  in  New  England. 
Our  subject's  great-grandfather  was  the  founder 
of  the  town  of  Stonington,  Conn.,  while  his  son 
Andrew  won  honors  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 

The  father  of  our  subject,  Andrew  Chapman, 
was  born  at  Stonington,  Conn.,  November  27, 
178'5,  and  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812. 
He  was  married  to  a  Connecticut  lady,  and  reared 
his  family  and  spent  his  entire  life  in  his  native 
State.  Our  subject  is  one  of  twelve  children,  six 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


413 


sons  and  six  daughters,  all  of  whom  grew  to  ma- 
ture years.  He  is  the  youngest  of  the  four 
brothers  and  sisters  who  are  yet  living. 

The  early  years  of  the  gentleman  whose  name 
heads  this  sketch  were  spent  in  the  county  of  his 
birth,  where,  in  spite  of  limited  school  privileges, 
he  became  quite  a  scholar,  and  while  still  j'oung 
taught  in  the  common  schools.  He  was  always 
especially  fond  of  mathematics,  and  became  an 
adept  in  the  higher  branches.  For  a  number  of 
years  he  followed  teaching  as  a  profession,  both  in 
Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island.  In  1848,  he  con- 
cluded to  try  his  fortune  in  the  West,  and  decided 
to  locate  in  Christian  County,  III.  His  first  pur- 
chase was  a  tract  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
of  wild  prairie  land.  This  he  fenced  and  placed 
under  cultivation,  and  as  his  means  increased  he 
invested  from  time  to  time  in  more  land,  until 
at  the  present  time  he  owns  about  twelve 
hundred  acres  of  valuable  and  well-cultivated 
land.  When  the  law  restraining  stock  from  run- 
ning at  large  came  in  force,  our  subject  had  already 
made  rails  and  built  forty  miles  of  fencing.  Dur- 
ing the  first  winter  of  his  settlement  here  he 
taught  a  country  school,  and  for  the  two  succeed- 
ing years  was  principal  of  the  Taylorville  school. 
For  a  number  of  years  he  was  the  leading  teacher 
and  educator  in  the  county,  and  met  with  flat- 
tering success  as  a  pedagogue. 

Returning  to  Stonington,  Conn.,  Mr.  Chapman 
wedded  Miss  Elizabeth  Williams,  on  the  18th  of 
March,  1852.  Mrs.  Chapman  is  a  native  of  Con- 
necticut, and  was  herself  a  successful  teacher  be- 
fore her  marriage  with  our  subject.  During  the 
years  he  was  teaching  in  Taylorville  she  was  his 
assistant,  and  rendered  material  aid.  This  worthy 
couple  have  two  sons,  the  elder  of  whom,  John 
W.  H.,  is  at  present  ably  serving  as  Supervisor  of 
Prairicton  Township,  and  in  company  with  his 
younger  brother,  Andrew  B.,  has  charge  of  his 
father's  farms.  The  parents  are  active  members 
"  oT"the  Stonington  Baptist  Church,  and  our  sub- 
ject has  been  a  member  of  that  denomination  for 
over  fifty  years. 

Since  the  organization  of  the  Republican  party 
Mr.  Chapman  has  used  his  influence  and  vote  in 
favor  of  its  nominees,  and  assisted  in  organizing 


the  party  in  this  county  in  1856.  Prior  to  that 
time  he  was  a  Jackson  Democrat.  In  local  poli- 
tics he  has  played  an  important  part,  and  has 
served  as  a  delegate  to  numerous  County  Con- 
ventions. It  has  been  forty-five  years  since  he 
cast  in  his  lot  with  the  pioneers  of  this  county, 
and  he  has  not  regretted  the  step  he  then  made. 
Few  men  are  better  known  in  this  part  of  the 
State,  and  he  has  for  years  possessed  the  confidence 
of  all  to  a  flattering  degree. 


M  C.  PONTING,  a  prominent  stock-dealer 
and  breeder  of  Prairieton  Township,  owns 
a  well-equipped  farm  on  section  36,  and  for 
forty-three  years  has  been  intimately  connected 
with  the  march  of  progress  in  this  county.  He  is 
recognized  as  a  man  of  unusual  business  ability 
and  force  of  character,  for  lie  has  acquired  a  for- 
tune through  the  exercise  of  his  superior  abilities. 
He  is  very  well  known  in  this  portion  of  the  State, 
and  we  feel  sure  that  his  many  friends  will  take 
pleasure  in  perusing  the  history  of  this  worthy 
pioneer. 

The  birth  of  Mr.  Ponting  occurred  in  Somerset- 
shire, England,  near  the  cit}'  of  Bath,  on  the  26th 
of  August,  1830.  He  is  the  son  of  John  and  Ruth 
(Sheron)  Ponting.  On  his  father's  side  the  de- 
scent of  the  family  is  traced  from  the  time  of 
William  the  Conqueror.  Until  his  seventeenth 
year,  our  subject's  time  was  passed  in  his  native 
land.  Since  reach  ing  years  of  maturity  he  has  ac- 
quired an  education,  as  he  had  no  opportunities 
in  that  direction  during  his  youth. 

It  was  in  1847  that  Mr.  Ponting  emigrated  to 
the  United  States.  Going  to  London,  he  took 
passage  in  a  sailing-vessel,  and  after  being  tossed 
two  and  fro  on  the  broad  Atlantic  for  five  weeks 
and  three  da3rs.  arrived  in  New  York  City  in  Sep- 
tember. He  first  went  to  Worcester  County,  Ohio, 
joining  some  friends  at  Frederickstown.  His  first 
experience  in  a  business  way  in  this  country  was 
at  Columbus,  Ohio,  where  he  engaged  in  buying 


414 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


and  butchering  cuttle  for  the  markets.  In  the 
spring  of  1848  he  went  to  Chicago,  then  but  a 
small,  straggling  town,  without  railroads.  For  the 
first  year  he  engaged  in  buying  and  selling  cattle, 
after  which  he  went  to  Milwaukee,  continuing  in 
the  same  line  of  business  and  shipping  stock  to 
Chicago.  His  next  venture  was  to  go  to  Texas, 
where  he  purchased  cattle  and  started  to  drive 
them  to  the  North.  On  his  way  to  Illinois,  he 
arrived  in  this  township,  and,  as  the  custom  was  in 
those  days,  stopped  for  a  night  at  a  hospitable 
farmer's.  He  was  entertained  at  the  home  of  the 
Adams  family,  and  here  received  his  first  ideas  of 
this  county.  Since  that  date  (July,  1853,)  lie  has 
made  his  home  here  and  is  still  engaged  in  the 
stock  business. 

In  September,  1856,  Mr.  Ponting  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Margaret  Snider,  the  ceremony 
being  performed  in  the  home  where  he  still  resides. 
Mrs.  Ponting  is  a  native  of  this  county  and  has 
passed  all  her  life  in  her  present  home.  In  1856 
our  subject  purchased  his  first  land  in  Stonington 
Township,  and  to  its  cultivation  devoted  himself 
for  many  years.  He  commenced  his  career  in  Illi- 
nois empty-handed,  but,  with  the  assistance  of  his 
estimable  wife,  has  accumulated  a  large  and  valu- 
able estate. 

The  wife  of  our  subject  is  a  daughter  of  Michael 
Snider,  who  was  of  German  birth,  and  one  of  the 
first  settlers  of  this  county.  He  is  living  at  the 
home  of  his  daughter,  and  though  over  eighty 
years  of  age  is  still  strong  and  robust.  To  our  sub- 
ject and  wife  have  been  born  the  following  chil- 
dren: Jessie,  who  is  the  wife  of  Wheeler  Adams,  a 
well-to-do  farmer  of  Shelby  County;  Everett  A.; 
Earl  Wayne;  Theophilus,  who  died  in  the  fall  of 
1882,  aged  fourteen  years;  and  three  who  died 
in  infancy. 

Soon  after  his  marriage  Mr.  Pouting  embarked 
more  extensively  in  the  stock  business,  and  has 
made  a  great  success  of  this  occupation.  In  1882 
he  purchased  a  farm  adjoining  the  corporate  lim- 
its of  Moweaqua.  He  relates  that  the  horse  he  rode 
to  Christian  County  was  afterward  owned  by  a 
Mr.  Bradley,  and  was  used  by  Abraham  Lincoln 
the  last  time  he  attended  court  at  Urbana.  Polit- 
ically, Mr.  Ponting  was  formerly  an  old-line  Whig, 


supported  Abraham  Lincoln  in  1860,  and  has  since 
been  a  Republican.  In  local  elections  he  is  inde- 
pendent, casting  his  ballot  for  the  one  whom  lie 
thinks  best  qualified,  regardless  of  party.  Relig- 
iously, Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ponting  are  not  identified 
with  any  church  organization,  but  attend  the  dif- 
ferent churches  of  the  neighborhood  and  contrib- 
ute to  their  support.  They  are  well  thought  of 
throughout  this  region,  and  are  always  active  in 
benevolent  enterprises,  as  well  as  in  all  movements 
tending  to  advance  the  public  good. 


eUARLES  F.  ELLIOTT,  who  is  engaged  in 
the  livery  business  in  Pana,  claims  Ohio  as 
the  State  of  his  nativity.  The  place  of  his 
birth  is  in  New  Holland,  and  the  date  is  April  3, 
1866.  He  is  a  son  of  John  A.  and  Elizabeth  (Vin- 
cent) Elliott,  both  of  whom  were  also  born  in  the 
Buckeye  State.  The  grandparents  also  lived  in 
Ohio.  The  paternal  grandfather  was  a  farmer  by 
occupation  and  reared  a  family  of  six  children. 
His  death  occurred  in  Ohio,  when  about  sixty 
years  of  age.  The  maternal  grandfather  also  spent 
his  last  days  in  that  State. 

John  A.  Elliott  has  followed  the  carpenter's 
trade  during  the  greater  part  of  his  life.  lie  came 
to  Illinois  in  1869,  locating  in  Pana,  where  he 
still  makes  his  home.  He  served  during  the  late 
war  as  a  member  of  one  of  the  one  hundred-day 
regiments.  Himself  and  wife  are  highly  respected 
people  and  both  hold  membership  in  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church.  Their  family  numbers 
four  children,  two  sons  and  two  daughters:  Me- 
lissa J.,  Charles  F.,  Frederick  M.  and  Annie  B. 

Our  subject  was  only  three  years  of  age  when 
he  came  with  his  parents  to  Pana,  where  he  has 
since  made  his  home.  He  was  here  reared,  spend- 
ing his  boyhood  days  midst  play  and  work,  and  in 
the  public  schools  acquired  his  education.  After 
arriving  at  years  of  maturity,  he  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Annie  Fanner,  of  Pana.  Their 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


415 


union  was  celebrated  on  the  22d  of  December, 
1891,  and  has  been  blessed  by  one  child,  a  son, 
Clarence  M.,  who  is  the  light  of  tlie  household. 

In  his  social  relations  Mr.  Elliott  is  a  member  of 
the  Knights  of  Pythias,  belonging  to  Lytha  Lodge 
No.  159,  K.  P.,  also  to  Mystic  Circle.  He  has  fol- 
lowed in  the  political  footsteps  of  his  father,  and 
exercises  his  right  of  franchise  in  support  of  the 
Republican  party.  "His  wife  is  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Both  have  many 
friends  throughout  the  community  where  they  have 
now  resided  for  a  quarter  of  a  century.  As  stated 
at  the  beginning  of  this  sketch,  Mr.  Elliott  is  en- 
gaged in  the  livery  business.  He  owns  a  large 
livery  barn, and  in  connection  with  this  has  a  feed 
and  sales  stable.  His  barn  is  supplied  with  a  large 
line  of  carriages,  buggies,  etc.,  and  a  number  of 
fine  horses,  in  fact  it  is  complete  in  all  its  appoint- 
ments and  from  the  public  Mr.  Elliott  receives  a 
liberal  patronage.  He  is  a  wide-awake  and  enter- 
prising young  man,  and  his  ambitious  and  pro- 
gressive spirit  will  no  doubt  make  his  business  ca- 
reer one  of  success. 


§YRON  TRAVIS,  a  well-known  hardware 
merchant  of  Assumption,  is  one  of  the  re- 
liable business  men  of  the  town,  and  has 
spent  almost  his  entire  life  in  this  county. 
It  is  with  pleasure  that  we  place  his  name  among 
the  pioneers  and  representative  men  of  Christian 
County,  as  he  has  taken  so  large  a  part  in  the  up- 
building of  this  section.  He  is  a  native  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, his  birth  having  occurred  near  Pittsburgh, 
July  31,  1855.  His  parents  areT.  M.  and  Jane  G. 
(Barrett)  Travis.  The  former  is  also  a  native  of  the 
Keystone  State,  and  on  arriving  at  manhood  was 
married  there.  His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  M.  L. 
Barrett,  who  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Christian 
County,  locating  here  in  1858,  and  is  now  one  of 
the  worthy  citizens  of  Assumption,  though  about 
ninety  years  of  age.  Our  subject's  father  was  a 
carpenter  and  joiner  by  trade,  and  followed  that 


business  in  Pennsylvania.  In  1855,  he  came  West 
to  Illinois,  locating  in  Shelby  County,  where  he 
worked  at  his  trade  and  also  engaged  in  farming. 
He  later  removed  to  Assumption,  where  he  now 
resides.  Here  he  devotes  some  time  to  working  at 
his  trade,  and  is  also  engaged  as  an  insurance 
agent. 

Byron  Travis  was  brought  by  his  parents  to  Illi- 
nois while  in  his  infancy,  and  grew  to  manhood 
in  Shelby  County.  He  was  given  good  common- 
school  advantages,  and  is  an  intelligent  and  well- 
informed  gentleman.  Corning  to  Assumption 
when  a  young  man,  he  learned  the  tinner's  trade, 
which  occupation  he  followed  for  several  years. 
In  1875  he  went  West  to  the  Black  Hills,  Colora- 
do, Dakota  and  Montana,  and  spent  about  two 
years  very  pleasantly  in  the  picturesque  West.  In 
July,  1877,  Mr.  Travis  returned  to  Illinois  and 
started  a  tin  shop  in  this  village.  The  following 
year  he  put  in  a  small  stock  of  tin  and  hardware, 
and  as  business  increased  enlarged  his  stock  from 
time  to  time.  In  1892  he  built  a  neat  and  sub- 
stantial business  house,  in  which  he  now  has  a 
large  and  complete  line  of  shelf  and  heavy  hard- 
ware, tinware  and  an  assortment  of  fine  cutlery, 
lie  has  built  up  a  reputation  for  reliable  goods 
and  honorable  dealing,  and  therefore  justly  de- 
serves the  large  patronage  which  he  receives.  His 
life  plainly  shows  what  may  be  done  by  an  enter- 
prising young  man  who  possesses  ability  and  the 
traits  of  industry  and  perseverance. 

Our  subject  was  united  in  marriage  Novem- 
ber 19,  1879,  with  Miss  Emma  E.,  daughter  of  W. 
G.  Henry,  of  this  place.  Mrs.  Travis  was  born 
and  grew  to  womanhood  in  Christian  County, and 
is  a  granddaughter  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Clokey,  a  pio- 
neer minister  of  the  United  Presbyterian  denomin- 
ation. He  established  the  church  at  Spring  Creek, 
and  was  well  known  to  the  pioneers  of  this  part  of 
the  State.  Two  children  graced  the  union  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Travis:  Edna,  who  died  in  July,  1889, 
aged  five  years;  and  Roy,  a  bright  little  lad.  The 
mother  is  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
which  our  subject  also  attends  and  to  which  he  is 
a  liberal  contributor. 

Socially,  Mr.  Travis  is  a  member  of  the  Ma- 
sonic fraternity,  belonging  to  Lodge  No.  451, 


416 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  of   Assumption,   in  which   he   has 
served   as   Master   and  as   Representative  to  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Illinois  on  several  occasions.     He 
also  belongs  to  Pana  Chapter,  R.  A.  M.     The'  first 
Presidential  ballot  cast  by  him  was  for  Rutherford 

B.  Hayes,  since  which  election  he  has  voted  for 
every   nominee   of  the  Republican    party  at    the 
Presidential  elections. 


\IL_  ENRY  J.  YARNELL  is  one  of  the  old  set- 
[[j!  tiers  and  representative  farmers  of  Christian 
/iv^  Count}",  his  home  being  on  section  22, 
(|||  Mosquito  Township.  He  was  born  Jan- 
uary 8,  1844,  near  Carlinville,  Macoupin  County, 
111,  and  was  the  fourth  in  a  family  of  seven  chil- 
dren, whose  parents  were  Isnac  A.  and  Rebecca 
(Bonharn)  Yarnell.  Our  subject  has  only  two  sis- 
ters living,  namely:  Olive  Caroline  and  Sophronia 
B.  The  former  is  the  wife  of  Francis  J.  Miller,  a 
farmer  of  Nance  County,  Neb.  The  younger  sis- 
ter married  James  A.  Piper,  a  grain-dealer  of 
Greenfield,  111. 

Isaac  A.  Yarnell  was  born  December  13,  1810, 
near  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  and  has  been  engaged  in 
farming  all  his  life.  He  came  to  Illinois  and  en- 
tered land  in  Macoupin  County  in  1833.  He 
there  remained  until  1845,  when  he  sold  his  farm 
and  purchased  a  tract  of  land  in  Greene  County, 
111.  In  the  fall  of  1867,  he  came  to  Christian 
County,  becoming  the  owner  of  a  farm,  which  is 
now  the  property  of  our  subject.  He  was  called 
from  this  life  August  7,  1887.  Politically,  he  was 
first  a  Whig  and  later  a  Republican,  and  relig- 
iously was  a  member  of  the  Cumberland  Presby- 
terian Church.  He  was  of  Irish  ancestry,  his  fore- 
fathers having  located  in  this  country  at  a  very 
early  day.  His  father,  Mordecai  Yarnell,  was  born 
April  17,  1767,  was  a  farmer,  and  died  July  30, 
1846.  The  father  of  the  latter  was  a  soldier  in 
the  Revolutionary  War.  The  mother  of  our  sub- 
ject was  a  daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Olive  Bon- 
ham,  and  was  born  November  10,  1811,  in  Blount 


County,  Tenn.  She  died  in  the  faith  of  the  Meth- 
odist Church,  August  16,  1852,  in  Greene  County, 
111.  Like  her  husband,  she  was  of  Irish  descent. 

Henry  J.  Yarnell  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm 
in  Illinois,  and  during  the  winter  terms  attended 
the  country  schools  until  nearly  eighteen  years  of 
age.  On  the  8th  of  September,  1862,  he  became  a 
private  of  Company  K,  Ninety-first  Illinois  Infan- 
try, having  enlisted  for  a  term  of  three  years.  He 
served  for  two  years  and  ten  months,  when  he  re- 
ceived his  discharge,  as  Lee  had  surrendered.  He 
had  been  a  soldier  for  about  four  months  when  he 
was  taken  prisoner  at  Elizabethtown.  Ky.  With 
his  company,  he  was  obliged  to  surrender  to  John 
Morgan  on  December  27,  1862.  He  was  sent  to 
the  parole  camp  at  Benton  Barracks,  near  St. 
Louis,  and  was  exchanged  June  5,  1863,  with  his 
regiment,  and  newly  equipped.  On  the  7th  of  the 
following  July  he  went  to  Vicksburg,  and  with  his 
regiment  was  attached  to  the  Thirteenth  Army 
Corps,  remaining  as  a  part  of  that  body  until  Sep- 
tember. He  was  sent  to  Morganza,  on  the  Missis- 
sippi River,  and  later  to  Point  Isabel,  Tex.,  where 
he  arrived  November  3,  1863.  For  several  months 
he  did  provost  duty  in  New  Orleans.  On  the  17th 
of  March,  1865,  with  his  company  placed  in  ad- 
vance, he  started  for  Mobile  and  had  to  march 
forty  miles.  On  the  27th  of  the  same  month  they 
met  the  enemy,  and  our  subject  was  under  fire  for 
fourteen  days.  His  regiment  was  in  the  last  en- 
gagement East  of  the  Mississippi  River,  at  a  point 
called  Eight-Mile  Creek.  Being  mustered  out  July 
12,  1865,  he  returned  home,  having  escaped  with 
slight  injuries. 

Feeling  the  need  of  a  better  education  than  he 
yet  possessed,  Mr.  Yaruell  went  for  one  term  to  a 
private  graded  school  at  Scottville,  Macoupin 
County.  Afterward  he  assisted  his  father  on  the 
farm,  and  during  the  winter  six-months  term  he 
taught  for  sixteen  years. 

On  the  4th  of  Apiil,  1872,  Mr.  Yarnell  and  Miss 
Jane  A.  Wilkinson  were  married.  The  lady  was 
born  in  April,  1844,  in  Macoupiu  County,  her 
parents  being  Thompson  and  Mary  A.  Wilkinson, 
early  settlers  of  that  county.  The  father  was  bora 
in  England,  and  settled  in  Virginia  with  his  par- 
ents. When  a  young  man,  he  came  to  Illinois, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


and  is  now  a  resident  of  Nebraska.  His  wife,  who 
was  a  native  of  Vermont,  is  also  living.  Our  sub- 
ject and  his  wife  have  two  children:  Oscar,  a 
young  man  of  good  education,  who  has  taught 
school  and  is  now  reading  medicine;  and  Maud, 
who  is  a  bright  little  girl  of  four  years. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Yarnell  supports  the  Republican 
party.  He  resides  in  a  Democratic  township,  but 
has  so  far  won  the  friendship  and  confidence  of 
his  neighbors  and  friends  that  he  has  been  honored 
by  them  with  various  positions  of  trust  and  honor. 
For  two  terms  he  was  the  efficient  Supervisor  of 
the  township,  and  in  1889  was  a  candidate  for 
nomination  as  Representative  of  Christian  County, 
and  had  the  support  of  nine  of  the  seventeen 
townships  in  the  county.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Masonic  order,  belonging  to  Lodge  No.  682,  of 
Blue  Mound,  of  which  he  is  a  charter  member. 
He  and  his  worthy  wife  are  members  of  the  Bap- 
tist Church,  in  which  he  is  one  of  the  Deacons. 
The  property  of  Mr.  Yarnell  comprises  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres,  which  are  cultivated  and 
improved.  Here  the  owner  carries  on  general 
farming  and  stock-raising  with  ability  and  si 


C.  BUTTS,  the  popular  and  effl- 
cient  Postmaster  of  Pana,  is  an  honored 
veteran  of  the  late  war,  who  entered  the 
service  as  a  valiant  defender  of  the  Union,  and 
throughout  the  struggle  was  always  found  at  his 
post  of  duty,  guarding  the  Stars  and  Stripes.  He 
was  born  in  New  Philadelphia,  Ohio,  July  17, 
1837,  and  is  a  son  of  Jacob  and  Mary  (Cryder) 
Butts,  the  former  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
the  latter  of  Ohio.  When  a  lad  of  eight  years  the 
father  removed  to  the  Buckeye  State  with  his  father, 
William  Butts,  formerly  of  Somerset  County,  Pa. 
The  mother  of  our  subject  died  when  he  was  eleven 
years  old,  and  for  about  seven  years  he  lived  with 
an  uncle  near  New  Philadelphia.  Prompted  by 
patriotic  impulses,  he  enlisted  July  26,  1861,  as  a 
member  of  Company  G , Forty-first  Illinois  Infantry. 
21 


In  1850,  he  had  accompanied  his  uncle  to  Bureau 
County,  III.,  and  after  a  year  went  to  Ogle  Coun- 
ty, 111.  Three  years  later  he  went  to  Iowa,  and  in 
1857  to  Kansas,  residing  in  Lawrence,  Douglas 
County,  for  a  time,  and  later  in  Coffey  County. 
In  1860,  he  removed  to  Missouri.  During  these 
various  removals  he  lived  with  his  father.  In 
1861,  he  returned  to  Illinois  and  settled  on  Buck- 
eyc  Prairie,  Christian  County,  where  he  remained 
until  he  entered  the  service.  Three  sons  of  the 
Butts  family  served  in  the  war.  While  at  Padu- 
cah,  our  subject  was  visited  by  his  father,  who  then 
returned  home  and  resided  in  Locust  Township 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  May  24,  1865,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-three.  His  second  wife,  whom  he 
married  in  Virginia,  is  still  living  in  Somerset 
County,  Pa.,  and  their  daughter  makes  her  home 
in  the  Old  Dominion. 

Dies  Butts,  the  brother  of  our  subject,  served  in 
the  same  company  and  regiment  as  Gabriel,  and  is 
now  a  teacher  in  Pana.  Elisha,  who  had  been  a 
sailor  in  early  life,  enlisted  in  Philadelphia  in  the 
Ninety-first  Pennsylvania  Infantry,  and  served 
through  the  war.  He  had  previously  been  in  the 
regular  army  for  three  years  on  a  man-of-war. 
He  made  his  home  in  Christian  County  from  1865 
until  1871,  then  removed  to  Nebraska,  and  is  now 
living  in  Des  Moines,  Iowa. 

Mr.  Butts  whose  name  heads  this  record  en- 
listed at  Taylorville,  and  joined  the  regiment 
which  was  organized  at  Decatur,  with  F.  M.  Long 
as  Captain  and  Col.  I.  C.  Pugh  at  the  head  of  the 
troops.  They  were  ordered  to  St.  Louis,  then  to 
Biid's  Point,  and  on  to  Paducah,  which  was  then 
under  the  immediate  command  of  Gen.  Grant. 
In  February,  1862,  they  went  on  the  steamer 
"Minnehaha"  to  Ft.  Henry,  and  the  Forty-first  111- 
nois  was  the  first  to  open  the  battle  at  Ft.  Donel- 
son,  where  they  lost  about  two  hundred  men. 
Proceeding  to  Pittsburg  Landing,  they  were  the 
first  to  set  foot  on  that  historic  field.  They  be- 
came a  part  of  the  famous  Fourth  Division  under 
Stephen  A.  Hulburt,  and  as  such  took  part  in  the 
battle  of  Shiloh.  They  held  the  key  to  that  bat- 
tle, having  been  stationed  at  Peach  Orchard, 
where  charge  after  charge  was  repulsed.  The  For- 
ty-first did  good  service  in  that  terrible  encounter, 


418 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


and  was  in  the  last  line  of  defense  when  the  final 
charge  was  made  by  the  enemy.  Mr.  Butts  was 
wounded  on  the  first  day  by  a  minie-ball,  and  by 
the  aid  of  a  comrade  made  his  way  to  the  rear. 
He  was  forced  to  remain  in  Savannah,  Tenn.,  for 
four  weeks,  was  then  sent  to  the  hospital  in  Quincy, 
111.,  for  five  weeks,  and  subsequently  to  Paducah. 
After  an  absence  of  four  months,  he  rejoined  his 
regiment  at  Memphis. 

With  his  command,  Mr.  Butts  then  took  part  in 
the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  and  while  making  a  charge 
at  Jackson,  Miss.,  was  captured  by  the  enemy.  He 
was  incarcerated  at  Atlanta  and  Columbus,  S.  C., 
spent  one  day  and  night  in  Libby  Prison,  and 
was  later  sent  to  Belle  Isle,  remaining  for  one 
hundred  days.  He  w.is  then  paroled  and  sent  to 
City  Point  and  Annapolis,  and  thence  to  Benton 
Barracks,  Mo.,  where  he  was  exchanged  six  months 
later.  In  the  spring  of  1864,  he  rejoined  his  reg- 
iment in  Nashville,  and  took  part  in  the  Sherman 
campaign  up  to  the  time  of  the  killing  of  Gen. 
McPhersou,  when  his  regiment  was  detailed  to  es- 
cort the  remains  back  to  Louisville,  Ky.  Our  sub- 
ject then  went  to  Springfield,  III.,  where  he  re- 
mained until  mustered  out,  September  26,  1864,  af- 
ter three  years  and  three  months  of  service.  He 
was  detailed  for  special  service  at  Vicksburg  with 
the  Fifth  Ohio  Battery,  having  charge  of  a  twen- 
ty-six pound  gun  and  two  field  pieces.  He  carried 
a  one  hundred  and  sixty-four  pound  shell  to  the 
gun,  which  was  stationed  upon  a  high  elevation, 
about  half  a  mile  from  the  court  house. 

After  his  return  home,  Mr.  Butts  engaged  in  op- 
erating a  threshing-machine,  and  in  November, 
1864,  went  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  spent  two  years 
learning  photograph}'.  He  then  spent  some  six 
months  in  Bureau  County,  111.,  after  which  he  re- 
turned to  Christian  County,  and  in  the  succeeding 
fall  located  in  Pana,  where  he  entered  a  drug  store 
as  clerk.  He  was  afterwards  with  Mr.  Coyner,  a 
druggist,  and  subsequently  with  Sumner,  Brown  <fe 
Co.,  of  Nokomis,  for  a  month,  and  then  returned 
to  Mr.  Coyner,  remaining  with  him  untilJanuary  1, 
1882,  when  he  formed  a  partnership  with  his 
brother-in-law,  under  the  firm  name  of  Butts  & 
Shaffer.  Enos  W.  Shaffer  died  May  22,  1893,  at 
the  age  of  forty-two,  but  business  is  still  carried 


on  under  the  old  name.  Mr.  Shaffer  was  born  in 
Carlisle,  Pa.,  and  entered  the  drug  store  with  Mr. 
Butts  in  1882.  He  was  a  modest,  unassuming 
man,  highly  respected,  and  was  buried  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias  Lodge,  of  which 
he  was  an  honored  member.  He  was  quite  popu- 
lar and  had  a  large  circle  of  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances. 

On  the  30th  of  November,  1871,  in  Pana,  our 
subject  married  Miss  Leah,  daughter  of  John 
Shaffer,  a  farmer  and  carpenter.  She  was  born  in 
Cumberland  Countv,  Pa.,  and  by  her  marriage  has 
become  the  mother  of  three  sons:  Claude,  a  drug- 
gist, who  aids  his  father  in  the  store;  Freeman,  who 
is  clerking  in  the  postoffice;  and  Benton,  who  is 
yet  attending  school.  The  family  is  one  of  prom- 
inence in  the  community  and  its  members  rank 
high  in  social  circles. 

On  the  1st  of  March,  1890,  Mr.  Butts  was  ap- 
pointed Postmaster  of  Pana,  and  has  since  served 
in  that  office  with  credit  to  himself  and  satisfac- 
tion to  the  community.  He  is  a  stanch  Republi- 
can and  an  inflexible  adherent  of  the  principles  of 
his  party,  doing  all  in  his  power  to  promote  its 
growth  and  insure  its  success.  He  served  eight 
years  as  Alderman  and  also  as  Town  Clerk.  He 
holds  membership  with  the  Grand  Army  Post 
of  Pana.  Prominent  in  business  circles,  he  is 
honored  by  all  as  a  man  of  sterling  worth  and 
strict  integrity.  His  faithful  service  during  the 
late  war  has  been  followed  by  faithful  performance 
of  duty  during  his  official  career,  and  it  is  said  of 
Mr.  Butts  that  he  is  true  to  every  public  and  pri- 
vate trust. 


JLLIAM  MORGAN  is  a  native-born  citi- 
zen of  Christian  County,  his  birth  occur- 
ring on  the  4th  of  September,  1838.  He 
carries  on  his  farm  of  three  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  on  section  13,  Mosquito  Township,  in  addi- 
tion to  which  he  has  for  the  past  six  years  been 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD 


419 


engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  in  the  village, 
now  known  as  Morganville.  He  is  an  able  and 
enterprising  agriculturist  and  business  man  and 
has  made  a  success  of  his  various  undertakings. 

John  Morgan,  our  subject's  father,  was  born  in 
Kentucky,  being  a  son  of  Lambert  Morgan,  of 
Virginia,  who  emigrated  to  Kentucky  in  an  early 
day.  The  father  participated  in  the  War  of  1812, 
and  was  in  the  battle  of  New  Orleans.  In  1820 
he  settled  in  Indiana,  where  he  resided  for  twelve 
years.  He  later  went  to  Vandalia,  111.,  his  parents 
proceeding  further  West.  After  living  for  a  time 
at  that  place,  Mr.  Morgan  went  to  St.  Louis,  Mo., 
where  he  was  employed  on  a  ferry  boat.  After 
some  wandering  he  finally  settled  in  this  county, 
where  he  married  Miss  Nancy  Watkins,  a  native 
of  Tennessee,  whose  father  was  an  early  settler  of 
central  Illinois.  Our  subject  was  the  only  child 
of  this  marriage.  The  father  located  on  a  farm  in 
Mosquito  Township,  where  he  passed  his  remain- 
ing days.  His  second  wife  was  a  Mrs.  Allen,  who 
bore  the  maiden  name  of  Lucinda  Loyd.  She  was 
a  native  of  Kentucky,  and  became  the  mother  of 
six  children,  one  of  whom  is  now  deceased. 

William  Morgan  was  raared  on  the  pioneer  farm 
of  his  father  in  this  county  and  received  but 
limited  advantages  in  an  educational  direction. 
He  embarked  in  business  at  Mt.  Auburn  on  attain- 
ing manhood,  but  soon  turned  his  attention  to 
farming.  Though  he  has  continued  as  an  agricul- 
turist up  to  the  present  time,  he  has  always  been 
interested  in  commercial  lines,  and  in  1887  opened 
his  mercantile  store  in  Morganville.  •  He  does 
general  mercandising  and  commands  a  good  trade. 
His  farm,  which  is  well  developed,  covers  three 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  and  is  one  of  the  best 
in  the  township. 

In  August,  1866,  was  celebrated  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Morgan  and  Miss  Margaret  A.  Nicholas,  daugh- 
ter of  A.  E.  and  Julia  Nicholas,  of  Sangamon 
Count}r,  111.  Five  children  have  been  born  to 
them,  namely:  Emma,  wife  of  Albert  Allen,  of 
Decatur;  Lucy  E.,  wife  of  Harvey  Clements,  who  is 
living  on  the  old  farm;  John  R.,  W.  E.  and  George 
A.,  who  are  all  at  home. 

Soon  after  his  marriage  Mr.  Morgan  located  on 
a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  forty  acres,  which  has 


since  been  extended  to  its  present  limits.  His  fa- 
ther, in  order  to  give  him  a  start,  deeded  ninety 
acres  to  him,  and  by  hard  labor  and  economy  he 
has  acquired  the  remainder.  In  1862  he  was  elec- 
ted Constable  of  Mosquito  Township,  a  position 
he  ably  filled  for  twenty  years.  For  three  years 
he  has  served  as  Road  Commissioner,  and  for  two 
decades  has  been  School  Commissioner.  In  poli- 
tics, he  is  a  stanch  Democrat,  having  voted  for  its 
nominees  since  casting  his  first,  vote  for  James 
Buchanan.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Fraternal 
Mystic  Circle,  and,  religiously,  both  himself  and 
wife  are  devoted  members  of  the  Christian  Church 
and  are  highly  thought  of  and  honored  by  their 
neighbors. 


>1LLIAM  KNOTT,  who  carries  on  farming 
on  section  30,  Pana  Township,  was  born 
in  the  county  of  Hereford,  England,  De- 
cember 5,  1820.  His  father,  Richard  Knott,  was 
a  native  of  the  same  locality,  and  there  spent  his 
entire  life,  his  death  occurring  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
three  years.  The  mother  bore  the  maiden  name 
of  Ann  Lem.  She.  too,  was  born  in  the  same 
community,  and  her  death  occurred  at  the  age  of 
forty.  They  were  the  parents  of  five  children, 
four  sons  and  a  daughter,  all  of  whom  grew  to 
mature  years,  while  four  of  the  number  are  yet 
living. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch,  who  was  third  in 
order  of  birth,  was  reared  in  the  county  of  his  na- 
tivity as  a  shepherd  boy  and  received  such  educa- 
tional privileges  as  the  common  schools  of  that 
dav  afforded.  Having  arrived  at  man's  estate,  he 
was  married  in  England  to  Ann  Gwilharn,  of 
Hereford.  The  wedding  tour  of  the  young  couple 
was  a  long  one,  consisting  of  a  trip  to  America. 
On  the  day  of  their  marriage  they  boarded  a 
Westward-bound  vessel,  which  sailed  for  the  New 
World,  and  on  the  6th  of  August,  1851,  they 
landed  in  New  York.  On  they  came  to  Peru,  111., 
and  soon  after  his  arrival  Mr.  Knott  was  robbed 


420 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


of  all  he  possessed,  about  $400.  He  awoke  in  the 
morning  to  find  that  he  had  only  an  English  six- 
pence with  which  to  start  in  life.  He  and  his  wife 
both  began  working  in  order  to  make  a  beginning, 
Mr.  Knott  following  any  pursuit  whereby  he 
might  earn  an  honest  dollar.  He  sawed  wood 
for  seventy-five  cents  per  cord,  and  did  various 
labor  for  two  years,  when,  with  the  assistance  of 
Mr.  Coffin,  a  banker  of  Peru,  who  bought  a  team 
for  him,  he  was  enabled  to  begin  farming  for 
himself.  He  rented  eighty  acres  near  Peru,  and 
for  four  years  engaged  in  its  cultivation.  At 
the  end  of  that  time  he  had  enougli  capital  to 
buy  a  team  and  wagon,  and  rented  a  farm  on  the 
Illinois  River  bottoms,  but  the  floods  came  and 
over-ran  the  place  and  he  lost  all  of  his  hard-earned 
savings.  He  then  did  what  he  could  for  a  living 
until  the  following  spring,  when  he  again  rented 
a  farm.  In  1861  he  entered  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  in  Bureau  County,  where  he  remained  until 
1866,  when  he  came  to  Christian  County  and  pur- 
chased eighty  acres  where  he  now  resides.  It  was 
all  prairie  and  unimproved,  and  he  at  once  began 
its  development.  The  boundaries  of  the  farm 
have  since  been  extended,  until  it  now  comprises 
two  hundred  and  eighty  acres,  the  greater  part  of 
which  is  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation.  Many 
improvements  he  has  placed  upon  it,  and  it  has 
become  one  of  the  valuable  farms  of  the  neigh- 
borhood. 

Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Knott  have  been  born  five 
children  and  they  have  an  adopted  daughter. 
Thomas  W.  is  now  living  in  Pana  Township;  John 
aids  in  carrying  on  the  home  farm;  Henry  is  liv- 
ing in  Kansas;  Sarah  is  the  wife  of  Samuel  Hawk- 
enbury,  of  Iowa;  Eliza  is'  the  wife  of  Isaac  Brand, 
of  Polo,  111.;  and  the  adopted  daughter  is  Lottie, 
who  has  been  with  them  since  her  fifth  year. 

Mr.  Kuott  was  formerly  a  Republican  in  politics 
but  is  now  a  supporter  of  the  Greenback  party. 
He  aided  in  the  organization  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  of  Millerville,  and  has  been  one 
of  its  prominent  members  and  influential  workers. 
He  served  as  Steward  of  the  church  and  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Sunday-school,  and  is  found  in  the 
foremost  rank  of  every  good  work  connected  with 
the  organization.  Many  reverses  and  difliulties  has 


Mr.  Knott  encountered,  but  with  wonderful  per- 
severance and  enterprise  he.  has  overcome  these 
obstacles  and  has  achieved  a  high  degree  of  suc- 
cess, which  is  certainly  well  deserved.  He  may 
truly  be  called  a  self-made  man. 


OSIAH  H.  DODGE,  M.  D.,  who  enjoys  a 
large  and  lucrative  practice  in  Pana,  being 
recognized  as  one  of  the  leading  physicians 
of  this  part  of  the  county,  was  born  in 
Montpelier,  Vt.,  April  26,  1821,  and  is  a  son  of 
Winthrop  and  Luceba  (Dodge)  Dodge.  His  par- 
ents, though  of  the  same  name,  were  not  of  the 
same  family.  They  were  natives  of  the  Green 
Mountain  State,  and  when  our  subject  was  a  lad 
of  ten  years  they  emigrated  to  Ohio,  locating  in 
the  Western  Reserve,  where  they  spent  their  re- 
maining days. 

The  Doctor  remained  upon  the  home  farm  until 
nineteen  years  of  age,  but  his  tastes  led  him  to 
seek  some  other  pursuit  than  that  of  agriculture, 
and  he  began  reading  medicine  in  Ohio  with  Dr. 
W.  Streeter,  now  of  Cleveland.  He  afterwards 
pursued  a  course  of  study  in  the  Medical  College 
of  Willoughby,  Ohio,  and  then  engaged  in  prac- 
tice with  his  old  preceptor  for  a  year.  Thinking 
that  the  West  was  a  better  field  for  the  labors  of 
a  young  and  ambitious  physician,  he  removed  to 
Indiana  in  1840,  and  engaged  in  teaching  and  in 
practicing  for  two  years.  In  1844,  during  the 
high  water,  he  took  two  flatboats,  loaded  with  pork, 
down  the  river  to  New  Orleans,  and  then  went  to 
the  lead  mines  of  Galena.  He  was  engaged  in 
mining  at  Shellsburg,  Mineral  Point  and  Dodge- 
ville  for  four  years  with  most  excellent  success, 
and  then  returned  to  Ohio  on  a  visit.  After  a 
short  time,  however,  he  started  to  Galena  by  way 
of  St.  Louis. 

While  in  the  latter  city,  the  Doctor  went  up  to 
the  lecture  rooms  of  the  McDowell  College,  and 
meeting  an  old  friend  he  there  remained  and  at- 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


421 


tended  a  course  of  lectures,  in  the  winter  of  1848- 
'49,  graduating  the  following  spring.  The  cholera 
was  then  in  progress,and  the  Doctor  went  to  Vanda- 
lia,  111.,  where  he  arrived  with  only  two  five-franc 
pieces  in  his  pocket.  These  he  paid  out  to  a  man 
who  drove  him  to  Bowling  Green,  Ky.  He  had 
been  there  only  a  few  days  when  he  had  twelve 
cases  of  pneumonia,  and  doctored  one  hundred  for 
that  disease  before  lie  lost  a  single  patient.  Dr. 
Dodge  there  remained  for  five  years,  enjoying  an 
extensive  practice,  and  then  located  at  Oconee, 
where  he  practiced  his  profession  for  two  years,  and 
also  engaged  in  merchandising  as  a  member  of  the 
firm  of  Roberts  &  Dodge.  He  then  sold  to  his 
partner  and  established  a  separate  store,  which  he 
continued  for  three  years. 

In  the  fall  of  1857,  the  Doctor  came  to  Pana, 
where  he  opened  a  store  and  office,  but  the  finan- 
cial panic  followed,  and  he  was  forced  to  sell  his 
store;  however,  he  had  gained  a  good  practice  in 
the  mean  time.  In  1862,  he  was  appointed  Assis- 
tant Surgeon  for  the  Fifty-fourth  Illinois  Infantry, 
with  Maj.  York  as  superior,  and  went  with  the 
regiment  to  Washington  and  Tennessee,  under 
Gens.  Davis  and  Dodge,  of  Iowa.  He  was  with  the 
troops  at  the  battle  of  Merriweather's  Ferry,  but 
in  the  fall  of  1862  he  was  compelled  to  resign  on 
account  of  ill  health.  He  assisted  in  recruiting  two 
companies  of  the  regiment  at  Pana. 

In  1852,  in  Bowling  Green,  Ky.,  the  Doctor  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Mary  A.  McClanahan, 
who  died  September  9,  1892,  having  been  his  faith- 
ful companion  and  helpmate  for  forty  years.  Five 
children  were  born  unto  them:  Eugenia,  wife  of 
Jesse  Reese,  of  Pana;  Louisa,  wife  of  David  Owens, 
an  operator  of  Mattoon;  Laura,  wife  of  J.  O. 
Gurney,  superintendent  of  the  roundhouse  of  Pana; 
Josephine,  wife  of  A.  II.  Miller,  a  machinist  of  Se- 
dalia,  Mo.;  and  Josiah,  who  died  in  his  twenty-sec- 
ond year.  The  Doctor  was  married  May  4,  1893, 
to  Miss  Oclava  B.iteman,  of  Pana,  a  friend  of  his 
earlier  years. 

On  his  return  from  the  war,  Dr.  Dodge  resumed 
practice  in  Pana,  and  for  five  years  was  engaged 
in  partnership  with  Dr.  Armstrong.  Later  Dr.  Dem- 
ing,  now  of  Chicago,  became  his  partner,  and  the 
connection  was  continued  until  about  live  years 


since.  For  the  past  three  years,  Dr.  Dodge  has 
been  engaged  in  office  practice,  treating  chronic 
diseases.  His  professional  career  has  been  one  of 
excellent  success.  He  possesses  both  skill  and 
ability,  and  lias  done  all  in  his  power  to  perfect 
himself  in  his  chosen  vocation.  He  has  ever  been 
a  close  student  of  the  science,  and  his  deep  re- 
searches have  placed  him  in  the  front  rank  among 
his  professional  brethren,  a  position  which  is  justly 
merited. 


JC.  Me  BRIDE,  one  of  Christian  Coun- 
ty's most  prominent  attorneys,  was  born 
on  the  16th  of  July,  1845,  near  Palmyra, 
Macoupin  County,  111.  The  ancestors  of  the 
McBrides  were  Scotch,  and  the  family  was  founded 
in  America  at  a  period  long  prior  to  the  Revo- 
lutionary struggle.  They  were  a  patriotic  and 
country-loving  people,  and  the  family  has  fur- 
nished gallant  soldiers  for  nearly  every  war  that 
has  taken  place  in  this  country.  Two  brothers 
fell  at  the  bloody  battle  when  Braddock  was  de- 
feated, during  the  French  and  Indian  War.  It  fur- 
nished heroes  for  the  struggle  for  independence; 
and  its  sons  were  in  the  War  of  1812,  and  in  the 
Mexican  and  other  wars.  The  family  of  McBrides 
were  to  some  extent  pioneers  of  three  States:  Vir- 
ginia, Tennessee  and  Illinois. 

Thomas  W.  McBride,  father  of  our  subject,  was 
born  in  Tennessee,  and  thence  came  to  this  State 
as  a  pioneer.  He  was  then  only  a  boy,  and  the 
greater  part  of  his  life  was  spent  in  Macoupin 
County.  His  wife,  the  mother  of  our  subject, 
Margery  A.  McBride,  was  the  daughter  of  Sandy 
and  Melvina  Wiggins,  and  came  to  Illinois  from 
Kentucky  when  but  a  child.  She  lived  here  prior 
to  the  memorable  winter  of  the  deep  snow,  and 
often  around  the  fireside  told  her  children  tales 
of  the  many  hardships  and  experiences  of  pioneer 
life.  In  the  family  were  three  sons  and  five  daugh- 
ters, all  of  whom  are  still  living. 

The  subject  of  our   sketch   spent   his  boyhood 


422 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


days  on  the  farm  near  Girard,  111.,  working  in  the 
fields  during  the  summer  and  attending  school 
during  the  winter.  Anxious  to  secure  a  good  edu- 
cation, in  the  winter  of  1865-66  he  attended  Earl- 
ham  College,  of  Richmond,  Ind.,and  in  the  fall  of 
1866  began  a  course  of  study  at  Lincoln  Univer- 
sity, of  Lincoln,  111.,  where  he  remained  for  three 
years,  being  graduated  June  17,  1869,  with  the 
degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science.  He  was  a  thorough 
and  diligent  student,  in  fact  was  always  at  the 
head  of  his  classes.  He  took  a  great  delight  in 
the  Literary  Society,  and  did  much  to  make  the 
Athenian  Society,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  a 
great  success.  Mr.  McBride  was  always  a  fine  de- 
bater, for  he  presented  his  views  in  a  clear,  able 
and  earnest  manner.  In  the  winter  of  1869-70 
he  taught  school,  and  read  "Blackstone's  Commen- 
taries," and  other  noted  works  of  law  during  his 
leisure  hours.  The  following  spring  he  entered 
the  law  office  of  Judge  W.  R.  Welch,  of  Carlin- 
ville,  111.,  with  whom  he  read  until  his  admission 
to  the  Bar  the  following  fall.  About  the  1st  of 
January,  1871,  he  moved  to  Taylorville  and  opened 
an  office. 

On  the  17th  of  May,  1871,  Mr.  McBride  was 
married  to  Mattie  Wheeler,  a  former  schoolmate, 
then  living  in  Lincoln,  111.  She  has  aided  him 
in  bearing  the  misfortunes  and  disappointments 
experienced  by  so  many  young  lawyers  in  begin- 
ning practice,  and  has,  indeed,  proved  herself  to 
be  a  true  helpmate.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Aaron 
and  Elmira  (Stockwell)  Wheeler.  Her  father  died 
many  years  ago,  but  her  mother  is  still  living  in 
Lincoln  on  the  old  homestead,  and  is  remarkably 
well  preserved  for  one  of  her  years.  During  the 
present  summer  (1893)  she  spent  ten  days  at  the 
World's  Fair.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McBride  have  four 
children:  Willis  Brammer,  born  September  9, 1872; 
Horace  C.,  December  26,  1874;  Elma,  March  8, 
1879;  and  Marcella,  July  12,  1890.  The  eldest 
son  is  now  engaged  in  teaching  school  in  this 
county,  and  the  next  two  children  are  attending 
school. 

Christian  County  recognizes  in  Mr.  McBride  one 
of  its  leading  and  influential  citizens,  and  every 
one  speaks  well  of  him.  It  is  such  men  as  he  that 
make  the  dignity  of  the  law  and  are  an  honor 


to  the  profession.  He  takes  a  great  interest  in 
his  clients,  and  spares  neither  time  nor  labor  in 
working  for  those  by  whom  his  services  are  en- 
gaged. He  has  been  connected  with  some  of  the 
most  important  cases  of  the  county,  including  the 
famous  Emma  Bond  case,  in  which  he  was  associ- 
ated with  Judge  McCaskill  and  Judge  Thornton, 
of  Shelbyville,  111.  This  trial  lasted  four  weeks 
and  excited  great  interest  all  over  the  country. 
Mr.  McBride  has  an  excellent  law  library,  and 
his  familiarity  with  the  contents  of  these  works 
has  made  him  a  most  excellent  and  successful 
practitioner.  He  is  a  most  enterprising  citizen, 
and  is  connected  with  various  interests.  He  is 
President  of  and  owns  nearly  a-fourth  interest  in 
the  mines  of  the  Taylorville  Coal  Company,  in 
which  enterprise  he  has  taken  an  active  and  lead- 
ing interest  from  its  inception.  He  is  also  a  stock- 
holder in  the  First  National  Bank  and  one  of  its 
Directors.  He  owns  three  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  of  valuable  land.  Mr.  McBride  takes  quite 
an  active  part  in  politics  and  campaign  work,  but 
has  never  sought  official  preferment  for  himself. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  the 
High  School,  being  associated  with  Messrs.  Pro- 
vine,  Vanderveer,  Jayne  and  Adams.  This  board 
planned  and  erected  at  a  cost  of  over  $30,000  the 
High  School  Building,  which  adds  greatly  to  the 
beauty  of  Taylorville  and  to  its  literary  influence. 


UTTON  WOOD,  a  retired  lumber  dealer 
of  Pana,  has  been  prominent  in  business 
circles,  and  is  recognized  as  one  of  the 
valued  citizens  of  the  community  in 
which  he  makes  his  home.  -He  was  born  in  Ban- 
gor,  Me.,  on  the  17th  of  January,  1821,  and  is  a 
son  of  Henry  and  Mary  (Radicker)  Wood,  the 
former  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  the  latter 
of  New  Brunswick.  Our  subject  comes  from  one 
of  the  old  families  of  the  Bay  State.  His  paternal 
grandfather  was  a  native  of  Concord,  Mass.,  and 
spent  his  entire  life  in  his  native  State.  He  reared 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


423 


a  family  of  fourteen  children.  The  father  of  our 
subject  was  a  painter  by  trade,  and  followed  that 
business  for  many  years.  Removing  to  Bangor, 
he  there  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life,  and  was 
called  to  his  final  rest  at  the  age  of  fifty.  His 
wife,  who  survived  him  five  years,  passed  away  at 
the  age  of  forty-five.  They  had  a  family  of  six 
children,  four  sons  and  two  daughters,  of  whom 
four  are  yet  living,  as  follows:  Calista,  wile  of 
Gilbert  Emerson,  of  Bangor,  Me.;  Dutton,  of  this 
sketch;  Peleg,  of  Pasadena,  Cal.;  and  Henry,  of 
Van  Buren  County,  Ark. 

We  now  take  up  the  personal  history  of  the  gen- 
tleman whose  name  heads  this  sketch,  knowing 
that  it  will  prove  of  interest  to  many  of  our  read- 
ers, for  he  is  widely  and  favorably  known  in  this 
locality.  The  days  of  his  boyhood  and  youth 
were  passed  in  the  Pine  Tree  State.  His  parents 
died  when  he  was  quite  young,  and  after  his  moth- 
er's death  he  left  Bangor  and  went  into  the  coun- 
tiy.  When  he  became  a  man  he  began  operating 
a  sawmill,  and  in  some  way  or  other  has  been  con- 
nected with  the  lumber  business  since  that  time. 
His  education  was  acquired  in  the  common  dis- 
trict schools,  and  through  experience  and  observa- 
tion he  has  become  a  well-informed  man. 

On  the  1st  of  October,  1850,  Mr.  Wood  was  un- 
ited in  marriage  to  Miss  Rosanna,  daughter  of 
Timothy  and  Laura  (Twitchell)  Adams,  of  Massa- 
chusetts. Seven  children  graced  the  union,  but 
Ellen,  Osborn,  Clarence  D.  and  Othello  are  now  de- 
ceased. Flora  A.  is  the  widow  of  Charles  Dawdy, 
by  whom  she  had  two  children,  Eugene  and 
Lora.  Charles  married  Miss  Nellie  Kennedy,  and 
with  their  two  children,  Lottie  and  .  Dutton,  they 
reside  in  Vera,  111.  Eva  completes  the  family. 

In  1855,  Mr.  Wood  came  from  Massachusetts  to 
Illinois,  and  located  twenty  miles  north  of  Cairo, 
where  he  carried  on  a  sawmill.  After  a  residence 
of  ten  years  he  came  to  Christian  County,  where 
he  has  since  made  his  home.  He  now  owns  two 
hundred  and  seventy  acres  of  land  in  Fayette 
County,  III.,  besides  his  comfortable  home  in  Pana, 
and  his  sawmill  on  his  farm.  In  politics,  he  is  a 
supporter  of  Republican  men  and  measures.  His 
business  career  has  been  one  of  prosperity.  By 
careful  attention  to  all  the  details  of  his  business, 


by  industry,  enterprise  and  upright  dealing,  he 
has  met  with  a  high  degree  of  success  as  the  re- 
sult of  his  labors.  For  twenty-seven  years  he  has 
lived  in  Pana,  and  during  all  this  time  as  been 
found  in  the  front  ranks  in  support  of  every  en- 
terprise calculated  to  benefit  the  community  and 
promote  the  general  welfare.  It  is  with  pleasure 
that  we  present  this  record  of  his  life  to  our  read- 
ers. 


OHN  HEDGES  resides  on  section  32.  Pana 
Township.  Among  the  prominent  and  rep- 
tative  farmers  of  this  county  our  sub- 
ject certainly  deserves  mention.  He  is  not 
only  a  leading  agriculturist,  but  is  also  an  honored 
veteran  of  the  late  war,  who  in  her  hour  of  peril 
gave  to  his  country  his  services,  faithfully  de- 
fending the  Old  Flag  and  the  cause  which  it  rep- 
resented. Mr.  Hedges  was  born  in  Berkshire,  Eng- 
land, December  13,  1841,  and  is  a  son  of  James 
and  Ann  (Stratten)  Hedges,  who  were  also  natives 
of  Berkshire.  In  1857  they  came  with  their  fam- 
ily to  the  New  World,  and  located  near  Griggs- 
ville,  in  Pike  County,  111.,  where  they  made  their 
home  until  1869,  coming  from  there  to  Christian 
County.  Here  the  father  died  in  his  eightieth 
year,  and  his  wife  passed  away  in  her  eighty- 
fourth  year.  Their  family  numbered  six  children, 
who  grew  to  maturity. 

Our  subject,  who  was  the  third  in  order  of 
birth,  was  a  youth  of  fifteen  when  he  crossed  the 
broad  ocean  with  his  parents  and  came  to  Illinois. 
He  began  his  education  in  the  schools  in  Eng- 
land, and  completed  it  by  study  in  his  own  room 
after  the  hours  for  out-door  work  were  over.  He 
began  work  as  a  farm  hand  at  $12  per  month,  and 
gave  his  wages  to  his  parents  to  help  them  buy 
the  little  farm  in  Pike  County  which  was  their 
home  for  a  number  of  years.  He  remained  w'ith 
them  there  for  seven  years — faithful  and  true  to 
the  interests  of  his  employer,  as  his  long  service 
well  shows.  In  1862,  however,  he  entered  the 
service  of  another  master.  In  that  yeaf  Mr. 


424 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


Hedges  became  a  member  of  Company  H,  Seventy- 
third  Illinois  Infantry.  He  enlisted  as  a  private, 
but  was  made  Sergeant,  and  after  three  years  was 
honorably  discharged,  in  1865.  He  participated 
in  all  the  battles  of  his  regiment,  including  the 
engagements  at  Stone  River,  Chattanooga,  Mis- 
sionary Ridge  and  Knoxville.  During  all  his 
service  he  never  received  a  wound.  He  was 
struck  on  the  knee  by  a  spent  ball,  a  bullet  passed 
through  his  clothing,  and  one  struck  his  gun,  but 
never  penetrated  his  flesh.  He  participated  in  all 
the  battles  of  the  Atlanta  campaign  under  "Sher- 
man, and  when  the  war  was  over  was  honorably 
discharged  in  Nashville,  in  June,  1865. 

Mr.  Hedges  at  once  returned  to  Pike  County, 
111.,  and  resumed  fanning.  He  was  married  Feb- 
ruary 18,  1869,  to  Miss  Hattie  A.  Dean,  who  was 
born  in  Pike  County  February  9,  1846,  and  is  a 
daughter  of  Henry  E.  and  Mary  A.  (Coughenour) 
Dean.  In  their  family  of  nine  children  she  was 
second  in  order  of  birth.  The  union  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Hedges  has  been  blessed  with  a  family  of  four 
sons  and  three  daughters,  as  follows:  Charles  A:, 
who  is  married  and  resides  in  Pana  Township; 
Alice,  John  A.,  Mary  E.,  Arthur  J.,  Alvin  R.  and 
Mabel  A. 

Mr.  Hedges'  residence  in  this  county  dates  from 
1869.  On  his  arrival  he  located  upon  the  farm 
which  is  yet  his  home,  and  at  once  began  its  devel- 
opment. It  now  comprises  one  hundred  and  thir- 
ty-three acres,  the  greater  part  of  which  is  under 
a  high  state  of  cultivation.  His  first  home,  a  small 
frame  house,  has  been  i-eplaced  by  a  two-story  resi- 
dence of  eight  rooms,  built  in  a  modern  style  of 
architecture.  There  are  good  barns  and  outbuild- 
ings, surrounded  by  well-tilled  Qelds,  which  yield 
to  the  owner  a  golden  tribute  in  return  for  his 
care  and  labor. 

Mr.  [ledges  has  led  a  busy  and  useful  life,  yet 
has  found  time  to  devote  to  public  interests.  In 
politics,  he  is  a  Republican.  He  served  as  Path- 
master,  School  Trustee  and  School  Director  for 
many  years.  He  holds  membership  with  Pana 
Post  No.  744,  G.  A.  R.,and  belongs  to  Pana  Lodge 
of  the  Modern  Woodmen.  The  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  of  Millersville  finds  in  him  an  ac- 
tive worker  and  leading  member,  and  he  is  now 


serving  as  Steward  and  Trustee.  With  the  work 
of  that  organization  he  has  been  prominently  iden- 
tified, and  his  aid  is  always  given  to  all  objects 
calculated  to  prove  of  public  benefit. 


AVID  LACHARITE,  a  merchant  of  As- 
sumption, has  been  a  resident  of  this  place 
for  three  decades,  and  is  too  well  known 
to  the  business  men  of  this  and  adjoining 
counties  to  require  a  special  introduction.  He  is 
numbered  among  the'most  esteemed  citizens  and 
public-spirited  men  of  this  region,  and  is  well 
worthy  of  representation  among  the  pioneers  and 
foremost  business  men  of  Christian  County. 

The  birth  of  Mr.  Lacharite  occurred  near  Mont- 
real, Canada,  November  12,  1839.  He  spent  his 
youth  and  grew  to  man's  estate  in  his  native  land, 
and  at  that  time  had  meagre  educational  advan- 
tages. Since  arriving  at  mature  years  his  educa- 
tion has  been  mainly  acquired.  While  still  a  lad, 
he  commenced  learning  the  carpenter's  and  join- 
er's trade,  and  it  was  in  the  pursuit  of  that  voca- 
tion that  he  first  crossed  the  border  to  the  United 
States.  For  some  time  he  worked  in  Minnesota, 
from  there  going  to  Louisiana,  where  he  remained 
until  1863.  At  that  time  he  came  to  Illinois  and 
joined  some  friends  in  Assumption.  After  loca- 
ting here  he  engaged  in  contracting  and  building 
for  a  number  of  years  with  good  success.  In  1868, 
he  entered  into  partnership  with  A.  Cazalet  and 
embarked,  in  the  general  mercantile  business.  Af- 
ter continuing  together  for  about  ten  j'ears,  our 
subject  purchased  his  partner's  interest  and  suc- 
ceeded to  the  whole  business,  which  he  carried  on 
for  several  years  by  himself,  but  now  has  asso- 
ciated with  him  Joseph  Lambert.  The  firm  carries 
a  large,  well-selected  and  complete  stock  of  gen- 
eral merchandise,  and  has  built  up  a  very  large 
trade  in  this  locality.  They  have  established  a 
reputation  for  fair  dealing  and  honorable  treat- 
ment of  customers  which  is  truly  enviable.  The 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


425 


building  in  which  is  located  their  stock  is  large, 
well  constructed  and  finely  lighted.  This  proper- 
ty and  his  residence  belong  to  our  subject.  It  is 
said  that  while  doing  a  business  of  $50,000  annual- 
ly, he  would  countermand  a  $15  order  if  he  con- 
sidered it  not  to  his  advantage,  yet  his  biographer 
feels  inclined  to  question  the  truth  of  this  state- 
ment, as  Mr.  Lacharite  is  considered  one  of  the 
foremost  business  men  of  Assumption. 

February  14,  1865,  Mr.  Lacharite  and  Miss  Ella 
Lambert,  were  married  in  Assumption.  The  lady 
is  a  daughter  of  Benjamin  Lambert,  one  of  the 
pioneers  of  Christian  County.  Like  her  husband, 
Mrs.  Lacharite  is  a  native  of  Canada,  and  was  a 
child  of  only  five  years  when  brought  by  her  par- 
ents to  this  county.  Seven  children  have  graced 
this  union,  namely:  Mary,  Clara,  Arthur  A., 
Henry,  Ella,  Herman  C.  and  Leah.  Arthur  A.,  an 
enterprising  business  man,  has  entire  charge  of  the 
books  of  his  father's  business.  The  family  are 
members  of  St.  Marie's  Catholic  Church. 

In  local  politics  our  subject  has  taken  quite  an 
active  part,  and  has  been  elected  to  several  official 
positions.  Among  others  he  has  served  as  Super- 
visor of  the  township,  and  has  been  a  member  of 
the  County  Board.  For  ten  years  he  was  a  Coun- 
ty Commissioner,  and  to  that  fact  is  due  in  a  large 
measure  the  excellent  roads  of  this  locality.  He 
supports  the  nominees  of  the  Democratic  party, 
and  is  quite  an  active  worker  in  the  ranks.  Fora 
period  of  ten  years  he  was  a  School  Trustee,  and 
has  done  much  to  advance  the  cause  of  education. 
In  whatever  position  he  has  been  called  upon  to 
fill,  he  has  been  ever  found  a  faithful  and  efficient 
officer. 


yiLLIAM  GUDEHUS,  who  is  successfully 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  in    Pana 
Township,  owns  and  operates  a  fine  farm 
of   one  hundred  and  eighty  acres  on  section   31. 
He  also  has  two  hundred  acres  of  land   in   Shelby 
County,  and  twenty  acres  of  timber-land  in  Mont- 


gomery County,  his  possessions  therefore  aggregat- 
ing four  hundred  acres.  All  has  been  acquired 
through  his  own  industrious  efforts,  and  is  there- 
fore a  monument  to  his  thrift  and  enterprise. 

Mr.  Gudehus  was  born  in  Brunswick,  Germany, 
September  19,  1819,  and  is  a  son  of  Henry  and 
Augusta  (Lehman)  Gudehus,  who  were  also  na- 
tives of  the  same  locality.  His  father  was  a  team- 
ster, and  engaged  in  freighting  with  teams.  His 
death  occurred  in  his  eighty-third  year,  and  his 
wife  passed  away  at  the  age  of  fifty-eight  years. 
Unto  them  were  born  seven  children,  five  sons  nnd 
two  daughters,  and  all  grew  to  mature  years. 

Our  subject,  who  was  the  third  in  order  of  birth, 
remained  in  the  place  of  his  nativity  until  twenty- 
six  years  of  age.  When  a  youth  of  fifteen  years 
he  commenced  learning  the  shoe-maker's  trade,  at 
which  he  served  as  an  apprentice  until  eighteen 
years  of  age.  When  he  had  arrived  at  man's  es- 
tate, in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  his  native 
land,  he  entered  the  army  and  served  as  a  private 
for  five  years.  Immediately  after  his  discharge, 
he  bade  adieu  to  friends  and  Fatherland  and 
sailed  for  the  New  World.  This  was  in  1845,  and 
he  located  first  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  where  he  re- 
mained for  four  years  working  at  the  shoemaker's 
trade. 

During  that  time,  Mr.  Gudehus  was  married. 
Miss  Hannah  Butt  becoming  his  wife  in  1847.  She 
was  born  and  spent  her  maidenhood  days  in  Ger- 
many. In  1849.  they  removed  to  Louisville,  Ky., 
where  our  subject  carried  on  the  shoe  business  for 
ten  years.  He  was  also  proprietor  of  a  hotel  in 
Elizabethtown,  Ky.,  during  that  period.  While 
in  Louisville,  his  wife  died,  in  1858.  Five  chil- 
dren were  born  of  that  marriage,  of  whom  four 
are  still  living:  William,  Henry,  Charlie  and  Jo- 
hanna. In  Louisville,  Mr.  Gudehus  was  again 
married,  May  8,  1859,  his  second  union  being 
with  Miss  Victoria  Zix,  who  was  born  in  Baden, 
Germany.  They  became  the  parents  of  eleven 
children:  Augustus,  now  deceased;  Victoria;  Min- 
nie, wife  of  Frank  Beyers;  Theodore,  who  mar- 
ried Dora  Shutt;  Frank,  who  wedded  Maggie  Rel- 
ligar;  Matilda,  wife  of  Ed  Beyers;  Emma,  wife  of 
Frederick  Sliuchs;  Edward,  Martha,  Katie  and 
Oscar.  Four  of  the  children  are  still  at  home. 


426 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


During  the  war,  Mr.  Gudehus  lost  everything 
that  he  had  at  Elizabethtown,  Ky.,  and  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1863.  lie  came  to  Christian  County  a  poor 
man  with  eight  children  to  support.  He  located 
upon  his  present  farm,  which  was  then  an  unim- 
proved place  with  a  log  cabin  upon  it.  He  began 
its  cultivation  with  characteristic  energy,  and  in 
course  of  time  his  labors  were  rewarded  with 
abundant  harvests.  In  the  years  that  followed  he 
regained  his  lost- possessions,  and  is  now  very  com- 
fortably situated,  having  a  handsome  competence. 
Having  laid  aside  business  cares,  he  now  rents  his 
land  and  is  living  retired  in  the  enjoyment  of  a 
well-earned  rest.  In  politics,  he  is  a  supporter  of 
the  Democracy.  Although  he  has  met  witli  some 
reverses  since  coming  to  America,  it  was  not  an 
unfortunate  venture  when  he  left  his  native  land 
to  seek  a  home  in  the  New  World. 


eHRISTOPHER  C.  HOLLIER  is  one  of  the 
honored  early  pioneers  of  Christian  Coun- 
ty, and  is  a  native  of  the  Prairie  State, 
having  been  born  February  13,  1825,  in  Belleville, 
111.  His  farm,  which  he  is  engaged  in  operating,  is 
situated  on  section  14,  Mosquito  Township.  It  is 
within  his  recollection  when  this  county  was  a 
wild  prairie,  having  very  few  settlements  upon  it, 
and  when  he  arrived  here  there  were  only  five 
families  within  a  radius  of  twelve  miles.  The 
country  abounded  with  wolves,  deer  and  other 
wild  game,  and  our  subject  has  seen  as  many  as 
sixty  deer  in  one  herd.  Decatur  was  onl}'  a  small 
town,  having  one  store,  and  the  early  settlers  had 
to  do  their  trading  at  Springfield.  Our  subject 
has  resided  here  longer  than  any  man  in  the  town- 
ship, and  lias  the  acquaintance  and  friendship  of 
many  people  in  this  and  adjoining  counties. 

Christopher  C.  Hollier,  Sr.,  the  father  of  our 
subject,  was  born  in  England,  and  on  his  arrival  in 
America  settled  in  southern  Illinois.  He  was  a 
tinner  by  trade  and  peddled,  and  when  our  subject 
was  a  small  child  the  father  left  home  on  a  ped- 


dling trip,  and  they  have  not  since  heard  from  him. 
His  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Clara  Osborn, 
was  born  in  Dayton  Count}-,  Ohio,  and  came  to 
Illinois  with  her  uncle  when  young.  She  married 
for  her  second  husband  Asa  Reed,  of  Rock  Island, 
and  removed  to  Sangamon  County  in  1830.  Three 
years  later  the  family  settled  at  the  head  of  Mos- 
quito Creek,  in  Macon  County,  where  they  contin- 
ued to  reside  for  a  score  of  years.  In  1853,  they 
purchased  land  in  Mosquito  Township,  where  Mr. 
Reed  died  only  two  years  later.  By  the  second 
union  were  born  ten  children,  who  are  all  deceased 
but  Clara,  who  is  the  wife  of  Al  McKinney,  a  resi- 
dent of  Taylorville.  The  mother  died  at  the  home 
of  our  subject,  at  the  age  of  fifty-five  years.  One 
of  her  sons,  Edmond  R.,  was  killed  at  the  battle  of 
Ft.  Donelson. 

Mr.  Hollier  whose  name  heads  this  sketch  was 
only  a  small  child  when  his  parents  located  in  Ma- 
con  County,  their  home  being  just  across  the  line 
from  his  present  place  of  residence  and  only  two 
miles  distant.  When  eighteen  years  of  age  he  left 
home  and  went  to  Sangamon  County,  where  he 
worked  for  farmers  for  a  time,  but  still  continued 
to  return  to  the  old  home  from  time  to  time.  He 
enlisted  in  Company  D,  Fourth  Illinois  Infantry, 
under  the  command  of  E.  D.  Baker,  during  the 
Mexican  War,  and  was  in  the  service  for  one  year. 

On  his  return  to  Sangamon  Countj',  Mr.  Hollier 
worked  on  a  farm  until  December  10,  1849,  at 
which  time  was  celebrated  his  union  with  Miss 
Nancy  McKinney,  of  that  county.  Coming  to 
Christian  County  soon  after,  our  subject  purchased 
forty  acres  of  raw  land,  for  which  he  paid  $3  per 
acre.  He  had  previously  entered  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Macon  County,  in  1848, 
on  an  old  Mexican  land  warrant.  His  property 
now  comprises  two  hundred  and  sixty-one  acres, 
which  represent  his  own  unassisted  efforts  and 
years  of  honest  industry. 

Twelve  children  blessed  the  union  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Hollier,  four  sons  and  eight  daughters,  but 
six  of  the  children  died  in  infancy.  Samuel  is  a 
resident  of  Bozeman,  Mont.;  Mary  is  the  wife 
of  Jicob  Bliler,  a  prosperous  farmer  of  Montana; 
Edmund  is  also  a  resident  of  Bozeman;  Alice  be- 
came the  wife  of  Eli  Bliler,  a  farmer  of  Mosquito 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


427 


Township;  Ida  is  the  wife  of  William  Cormony, 
who  farms  a  part  of  the  old  homestead;  and  Lucy 
is  Mrs.  James  Harris,  her  husband  being  engaged 
in  farming  in  the  same  township. 

In  his  social  relations,  Mr.  Hollier  belongs  to  the 
Masonic  order,  and  is  a  member  of  Lodge  No.  682, 
of  Blue  Mound,  III.  For  a  number  of  years  he 
has  been  one  of  the  School  Directors,  and  has 
served  as  Town  Clerk  for  two  years.  He  stands 
by  the  Republican  party  and  nominees  in  general 
elections.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the 
Christian  Church,  and  are  active  in  religious  and 
benevolent  work. 


PHILIP  B.  KEMMERER,  who  is  now  living 
a  retired  life  in  Assumption,  is  one  of  the 
honored  early  settlers  of  the  county,  who 
dates  his  residence  here  from  April,  1857. 
He  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  enterprising  and 
substantial  men  of  the  community  and  this  work 
would  be  incomplete  without  a  record  of  his  life. 
A  native  of  Ohio,  he  was  born  in  Fail-field  County 
January  16,  1826.  His  father,  Joseph  Kemmerer, 
was  born  in  Lancaster  County,  Pa.,  in  1796,  while 
the  grandfather,  Philip  Kemmerer,  was  also  a  na- 
tive of  the  Keystone  State.  John  Kemmerer,  the 
great-grandfather,  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  and 
was  one  of  the  Huguenots  who  came  to  America 
with  William  Penn.  Philip  Kemmerer  served  as 
a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  In  1801  he 
removed  with  Ids  family  to  Ohio,  locating  in  the 
forests  of  Fail-field  County,  near  Lancaster,  where 
he  cleared  and  opened  up  a  farm. 

The  father  of  our  subject  was  there  reared  to 
manhood  and  married  Siloma  Bowser,  a  native  of 
Switzerland,  who  came  to  the  New  World  when  a 
child  of  two  years  with  her  father,  John  Jacob 
Bowser,  a  pioneer  of  Fail-field  County  of  1812. 
After  his  marriage  Mr.  Kemmerer  located  upon  a 
part  of  his  father's  farm,  which  he  purchased,  and 
began  its  development  and  improvement,  for  it  was 
then  wild  land.  There  he  reared  his  family  and 


spent  his  remaining  days,  dying  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
four  yeais,  on  the  1st  of  September,  1847.  The 
family  numbered  six  sons  and  four  daughters, 
all  of  whom  grew  to  mature  years.  The  eldest 
brother,  Emanuel,  however,  died  in  1845,  when  a 
young  man  studying  for  the  ministry.  The  sur- 
vivors of  the  family  are  Philip  B.,  of  this  sketch; 
John,  who  is  now  living  in  Assumption;  Mrs.  John 
Harper,  of  Shelby  County,  111.;  and  Mrs.  P.  L. 
Myers,  of  Assumption. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch,  who  was  the  fourth 
in  order  of  birth,  grew  to  manhood  in  Fail-field 
County,  Ohio,  and  in  the  common  schools  acquired 
his  education.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  began 
teaching,  and  while  following  that  profession  also 
pursued  a  course  of  study.  He  taught  in  Ohio  for 
eleven  years  and  in  Illinois  for  two  years.  In 
1855  lie  came  to  Christian  County  and  purchased 
two  hundred  acres  of  land,  which  he  still  owns, 
but  he  did  not  make  a  permanent  location  until 
1857.  At  that  time  he  settled  on  land  in  Assump- 
tion Township,  and  devoted  his  time  and  atten- 
tion to  its  cultivation,  lie  continued  agricultural 
pursuits  until  1870,  when  he  rented  his  land  and 
came  to  Assumption.  He  had  made  all  necessary 
improvements  upon  his  place,  had  erected  a  good 
residence  and  outbuildings,  and  in  fact  had  made 
his  place  one  of  the  model  farms  of  the  county. 

On  the  13th  of  January,  1876,  our  subject  mar- 
ried Miss  Sarah  A.  Kemmerer,  a  daughter  of  Mar- 
tin and  Sarah  Kemmerer,  of  Allentown,  Pa.,  where 
the  wedding  was  celebrated.  The  lady  was  born 
in  Upper  Milford  Township,  Lehigh  County,  Pa., 
and  was  there  educated.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kemmerer 
have  always  made  their  home  in  this  community. 

In  politics,  our  subject  has  been  a  Democrat 
since  casting  his  first  Presidential  vote  for  Frank- 
lin Pierce  in  1852.  He  has  taken  quite  an  active 
part  in  local  politics,  was  elected  the  first  Assessor 
of  Assumption  in  1872,  was  re-elected  and  served 
for  four  consecutive  years.  He  was  then  elected 
Justice  of  the  Peace  and  is  now  serving  his  second 
term  as  Police  Magistrate.  He  has  frequently 
served  as  delegate  to  the  conventions  of  his  party. 
Since  coming  to  Assumption  he  has  lived  a  retired 
life,  yet  has  improved  fourteen  residence  proper- 
ties in  the  village.  He  now  owns  about  one  thou- 


•128 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


sand  acres  of  land,  two  hundred  and  sixty-three 
acres  in  one  farm  in  Clay  County,  and  seven  hun- 
dred and  thirty-two  acres  in  Assumption  Town- 
ship, divided  into  four  well-improved  and  highly- 
cultivated  farms.  lie  is  one  of  the  industrious 
and  successful  business  men  of  the  county.  Him- 
self and  wife  are  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  ho  belongs  to  Brownwell  Lodge  No. 
451,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.  His  public  duties  have  been 
discharged  with  a  promptness  and  fidelity  that 
have  won  him  the  commendation  of  all  concerned. 
For  thirty-six  long  years  he  has  been  a  resident  of 
Christian  County  and  has  witnessed  its  growth 
and  development.  He  is  well  known  throughout 
its  borders  and  is  a  man  of  upright  character  and 
worth,  who  in  connection  with  his  estimable  wife 
holds  an  enviable  position  in  the  regard  of  their 
many  friends. 


/jtjsi  IIARLES  H.  HILL,  who  is  Justice  of  the 
A\  r  Peace  an<i  Notary  Public  of  Rosemond,  is  a 
^^^/  native  of  the  old  Granite  State.  He  was 
born  in  Northwood,  N.  II.,  July  10,  1826,  and  is  a 
descendant  of  one  of  three  brothers  who  emi- 
grated from  England  to  America  in  1680  and  es- 
tablished the  Hill  family  in  the  Colonies.  One  of 
the  brothers,  Samuel,  held  a  grant  from  King 
George  III.  for  the  entire  site  of  the  city  of  Bos- 
ton. 

From  a  genealogical  history  of  the  Hill  family, 
compiled  and  published  by  Edmund  J.  Lane,  of 
Dover,  N.  H.,  we  learn  that  the  Hill  name  runs 
back  to  John  Rogers,  the  martyr.  Benjamin 
Hill,  the  great-grandfather  of  our  subject,  was 
born  at  Brentwood,  N.  H.  He  married  Betsey 
Dudley,  of  Stratham,  N.  H.,  and  reared  a  family 
of  eight  children.  On  the  18th  of  March,  1752, 
Benjamin  Hill  removed  with  his  family  from 
Brentwood  to  Northwood,  N.  II.,  taking  up  the 
land  which  has  ever  since  been  occupied  by  the 
Hill  family.  Its  present  occupant  is  Frank  R. 


Hill,  a  lineal  descendant  of  Benjamin,  and  of  the 
fifth  generation  from  him. 

Benjamin  Hill  was  drafted  for  the  Revolution- 
ary War,  and  his  son,  Nicholas  Dudley,  not  wish- 
ing him  to  go  alone,  also  enlisted.  The  father 
died  at  Ticonderoga,  and  the  son  returned  to  his 
home,  then  being  his  mother's  chief  dependence. 
Nicholas  Dudley  Hill  was  born  at  Brentwood, 
N.  H.,  and  was  the  eldest  of  his  father's  family.  He 
married  Mary  Crockett,  and  they  also  had  eight 
children,  of  whom  John,  the  father  of  our  subject, 
was  second  in  order  of  birth.  The  latter  was 
born  in  Northwood,  March  21,  1785,  and  was  a 
farmer  by  occupation.  He  married  Susan  Pearl, 
who  was  born  in  Farmington,  N.  II.,  March  31, 
1785,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Ichabod  Pearl,  who 
was  a  native  of  the  Granite  State,  and  was  of  Eng- 
lish lineage.  His  wife,  our  subject's  maternal 
grandmother,  who  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Mary 
Young,«was  a  native  of  the  same  community  and 
her  ancestors  came  from  the  same  family.  The 
Pearl  family  are  hneal  descendants  of  the  Earl  of 
Northumberland,  who  was  the  father  of'  Lady 
Jane  Grey,  who  made  claim  to  the  throne  of  Eng- 
land. The  parents  of  our  subject  both  engaged 
in  school  teaching.  During  the  War  of  1812,  Mr. 
Hill  abandoned  that  profession  and  removed  to 
Middleton,  N.  H.,  where  he  opened  a  store  and 
tavern.  They  became  the  parents  of  eight  chil- 
dren, four  sons  and  four  daughters,  all  of  whom 
grew  to  manhood  and  womanhood.  Mary  E.  died 
June  17,  1886;  John  C.  died  in  1813;  Caroline  G. 
died  January  23,  1886;  Susan  L.  died  in  St.  Louis, 
Mo.,  March  1,  1879;  Sophronia  E.  died  in  Cam- 
bridge, Mass.,  November  5,  1857;  David  C.,  who 
was  a  member  of  the  senior  class  of  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege, N.  H.,  died  August  24,  1849;  and  George  W. 
resides  in  Providence,  R.  I. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  a  twin  brother  of 
George.  They  are  the  youngest  and  the  only  mem- 
bers of  the  family  now  living.  Charles  remained 
with  his  parents  for  some  years,  and  when  quite 
young  accompanied  them  to  Great  Falls,  N.  H., 
where  his  father  died  when  he  was  five  years  of 
age,  leaving  the  mother  with  eight  children  to 
support.  When  a  youth  of  nine  years  our  sub- 
ject began  working  for  William  Shaw,  of  North 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


429 


Berwick,  Me.,  with  whom  lie  remained  for  two 
years,  when,  at  the  age  of  eleven,  he  went  to 
Farmington,  N.  II.,  where  he  spent  two  years  in 
the  employ  of  Benjamin  Wingate.  On  the  ex- 
piration of  that  period  he  went  to  Milton,  N.  H., 
to  make  his  home  with  his  uncle,  Joseph  Pearl, 
with  whom  he  remained  until  twenty  years  of  age. 
liis  place  of  residence  then  changed,  and  we  find 
him  at  Natick,  Mass.,  in  the  family  of  Vice-Presi- 
dent  Henry  Wilson,  who  was  reared  by  an  aunt 
of  our  subject,  Mrs.  Temperance  Knight,  of  Farm- 
ington. From  1846  until  1849,  Mr.  Hill  there  re- 
mained, and  in  September  of  the  last-named  year 
he  went  to  Gilmantou  Academy,  which  he  at- 
tended for  three  years.  He  taught  school  at  Strat- 
ford, N.  H.,  in  the  winter  of  1849-50,  returning 
to  the  academy  in  the  spring. 

On  the  26th  of  December,  1854,  in  Gilraanton, 
N.  H.,  Mr.  Hill  was  united  in  marriage  with  Mary 
F.,  daughter  of  Jeremiah  and  Elizabeth  (Smith) 
Morgan,  the  former  a  native  of  Brentwood,N.  H., 
and  the  latter  of  Ipswich,  Mass.  Both  were  of 
English  descent.  Mrs.  Morgan  was  the  youngest 
in  a  family  of  four  sons  and  three  daughters  and 
was  born  in  Gilmanton,  N.  H.  After  his  marriage, 
Mr.  Hill  was  employed  with  the  firm  of  A.  G.  Far- 
well  &  Co.,  wholesale  flour  merchants,  for  ten 
years,  and  in  December,  1863,  was  appointed  Pay- 
master of  the  United  States  navy,  with  his  head- 
quarters on  the  steamer  "Saco"  for  three  years.  On 
the  loth  of  April,  1866,  he  left  that  position  and 
was  appointed  Constable  in  Massachusetts,  serv- 
ing as  such  until  1868,  when  he  came  to  Rose- 
mond,  111.,  where  he  has  since  resided.  He  is  now 
serving  as  Notary  Public,  and  for  four  years  was 
Justice  of  the  Peace. 

Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hill  were  born  four  children, 
George  C.;  Charles  R.,  who  died  leaving  a  wife 
and  two  children,  George  R.  and  Bessie  W.;  Min- 
nie W.,  wife  of  Henry  P.  Denbow,  of  Pana,  by  whom 
she  has  a  daughter,  Pearl  I.;  and  Susan  E.,  wife  of 
Howard  A.  Koogle,  of  Pana.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hill 
have  almost  pleasant  home  and  own  a  fine  farm  of 
fifty-one  acres.  In  his  social  relations  he  is  a  Mason, 
belonging  to  Pana  Lodge  No.  226,  and  he  is  also  a 
Royal  Arch  Mason,  and  a  member  of  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic.  In  the  public  duties  which 


he  has  been  called  upon  to  fill,  he  has  ever  per- 
formed his  part  with  faithfulness  and  fidelity  and 
to  the  credit  of  himself  and  the  satisfaction  of  his 
constituents.  His  life  has  been  an  honorable  and 
upright  one,  and  the  high  regard  of  all  with  whom 
business  or  pleasure  has  brought  him  in  contact  is 
his. 


APT.  ALFRED  COWGILL,  who  is  one  of 

the  honored  veterans  of  the  late  war,  hav- 
ing as  a  member  of  the  boys  in  blue  de- 
fended the  Union  in  her  hour  of  peril,  is  now  a- 
grain  and  hay  dealer  in  Rosemond.  He  is  widely 
known  throughout  this  community,  and  it  is  with 
pleasure  that  we  present  to  our  readers  this  record 
of  his  life  work.  He  was  born  in  Tuscarawas 
County,  Ohio,  on  the  16th  of  August,  1833,  and 
conies  of  an  old  Canadian  family,  his  great-grand- 
father having  been  born  in  Canada.  His  grand- 
father was  Samuel  Cowgill,  and  the  father  of  our 
subject  also  bore  the  name  of  Samuel.  The  latter 
was  a  native  of  Delaware,  and  throughout  his  entire 
life  followed  the  occupation  of  farming  in  pursuit 
of  fortune.  He  married  Louise  Dorsey,  a  native 
of  Mary  land,  and  a  daughter  of  Seth  Dorsey.  The 
wedding  ceremony  was  performed  in  Tuscarawas 
County,  where  they  lived  for  many  3rears.  In 
1853,  they  came  to  Christian  County,  111.,  locating 
in  Rosemond  Township,  where  the  father  died  at 
the  age  of  eighty-seven  years,  while  the  mother 
survived  him  until  she  had  reached  the  allotted 
three-score  years  and  ten  of  the  Psalmist. 

Our  subject  is  the  eldest  in  a  family  of  five  sons 
and  two  daughters.  He  lived  quietly  in  the  county 
of  his  nativity  until  he  had  attained  his  majority, 
spending  his  boyhood  days  midst  play  and  work 
and  acquiring  a  good  English  education  in  the 
common  schools  of  the  neighborhood.  At  the  age 
of  twenty-one  he  came  to  Christian  County.  Af- 
ter the  breaking  out  of  the  late  war,  he  entered  the 
service  of  his  country,  in  August,  1861,  and  was 
assigned  to  Company  H,  Ninth  Illinois  Infantry. 
Ho  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Second  Lieu- 


430 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


tenant,  and  was  afterwards  made  First  Lieutenant. 
In  October,  1863,  he  was  transferred  to  the  Vet- 
eran Reserve  Corps  as  First  Lieutenant,  and  was 
mustered  out  with  the  rank  of  Captain  in  1865, 
after  more  than  four  years  of  faithful  service.  He 
participated  in  many  hard -fought  battles,  includ- 
ing the  engagements  at  Shiloh,  Pittsburg  Landing, 
Corintli  and  many  others.  He  was  wounded  by  a 
minie-ball  in  the  left  knee  at  the  last-named  bat- 
tle on  the  3d  of  October,  1862,  and  was  struck  in 
the  breast.  .Had  it  not  been  for  some  letters  and 
a  memorandum  book  which  he  had  in  his  pocket 
he  would  have  been  killed.  He  was  always  found 
at  his  post  of  duty  and  stood  by  the  Old  Flag  until 
the  war  was  over,  and  the  Stars  and  Stripes  floated 
"triumphantly  over  the  united  Nation. 

Returning  to  Christian  County  in  1865,  Capt. 
Cowgill  embarked  in  the  hardware  business  in  As- 
sumption, as  a  member  of  the  firm  of  H.  H.  Baltz- 
ley  &  Co.,  which  connection  was  continued  three 
years,  when  he  sold  out  and  removed  to  Pana. 
There  he  worked  for  Joel  Beckwith  in  the  grain 
business  for  two  years,  after  which  he  entered  the 
employ  of  S.  M.  Hawood  <fe  Son,  grain  dealers,  as 
manager.  In  1874,  he  came  to  Rosemond,  and 
here  carried  on  the  grain  business  for  that  firm  for 
two  years.  His  place  of  residence  changed  again 
in  1876,  when  he  went  to  Montrose,  Mo.,  where  he 
dealt  in  grain  for  a  year.  He  then  returned  to 
Rosemond,  and  ic-entered  the  employ  of  Hawood 
&  Son,  with  whom  he  continued  until  1878.  Since 
1891  he  has  been  connected  with  J.  B.  Wadding- 
ton  in  the  grain  business,  and  the  firm  is  now  en- 
joying a  good  trade. 

In  1864,  in  New  Philadelphia,  Ohio,  Capt.  Cow- 
gill  was  united  in  marriage  with  Sarah  Bear,  a  na- 
tive of  Tuscarawas  County,  Ohio.  By  their  union 
have  been  born  seven  children:  Catherine,  wife  of 
B.  F.  Carper,  of  Rosemond;  Sarah,  who  is  engaged 
in  teaching;  Alfred  B.,  of  Rosemond;  Edward  G., 
deceased;  Mary,  who  is  also  a  teacher;  Casanna, 
deceased;  and  Jesse,  who  completes  the  family. 

Our  subject  is  a  member  of  Pope  Post  No.  411, 
G.  A.  R.,  of  Pana.  He  has  followed  in  the  polit- 
ical footsteps  of  his  father,  voting  with  the  Re- 
publican party,  of  whose  principles  he  is  a  stanch 
advocate.  He  is  a  man  of  good  business  ability, 


and  is  now  doing  well  in  the  enterprise  to  which 
he  devotes  his  time  and  attention.  He  is  a  faith- 
ful citizen  in  times  of  peace  as  well -as  in  times  of 
war,  and  Rosemond  recognizes  in  him  a  valued 
representative  of  the  community. 


JOHN  SMITH    is    an  extensive    land-owner 
and  one  of  the  representative  farmers  and 
stock-raisers  of  Christian  County,  owning 
one  of  the  best  farms  in  May  Township,  his 
residence  being  on  section  15.     He  was  born    in 
England,  on  the  18th  of  April,  1838,  being  a  son 
of  Thomas  and   Elizabeth  (Cooper)  Smith.     They 
were  the  parents  of  four  children,  three  of  whom 
are  deceased. 

Our  subject's  father  was  reared  in  England,  and 
came  in  1844  to  seek  a  home  in  Illinois.  He  re- 
mained for  a  short  time  in  Pike  County,  and  in 
the  following  year  entered  land  in  Christian  Coun- 
ty. He  was  one  of  the  pioneers  and  leading  men 
of  the  county  in  an  early  day.  The  farm  which 
he  entered  is  now  owned  and  operated  by  our 
subject.  At  the  time  of  his  death  the  father  left 
about  four  hundred  acres  of  property,  upon  which 
he  had  made  good  improvements.  On  leaving 
Pike  County,  his  wife  and  family  remained,  and 
in  some  unaccountable  way  they  lost  all  trace  of 
each  other.  After  a  quarter  of  a  century  had 
elapsed  they  accidentally  met,  and  the  children 
who  were  young  when  he  left  them,  were  all 
grown  up  at  that  time. 

Mr.  Smith  was  for  twenty-six  years  Justice  of 
the  Peace  in  this  township.  His  death  occurred 
in  January,  1877,  and  he  was  placed  to  rest  in  the 
Harris  Cemetery.  His  wife  was  also  a  native  of 
England,  and  her  death  occurred  in  Adams  Coun- 
ty, in  October,  1873.  In  1844  the  mother  of  out- 
subject  was  left  with  her  four  small  children  in 
Pike  County.  On  account  of  poor  health  the 
whole  family  had  chills  and  fevers.  Mrs.  Smith's 
parents  desired  her  to  leave  and  go  to  Jackson- 
ville. Her  husband  wrote  a  number  of  letters, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


431 


but,  failing  to  receive  any  reply,  concluded  that 
she  had  deserted  him  and  returned  to  her  parents. 
In  a  few  years  he  was  therefore  married  in  Sanga- 
mon  Count_y,  and  after  the  death  of  his  wife  he 
was  again  married,  but  afterward  obtained  a  di- 
vorce. 

After  a  few  months  from  the  time  of  her  hus- 
band's departure,  the  mother  of  our  subject  re- 
moved to  Jacksonville,  111.,  and  therefore  on  his 
return  to  Pike  County  he  could  learn  nothing  of 
their  whereabouts.  At  the  end  of  twenty-six 
years,  during  which  time  he  had  accumulated  a 
large  estate,  Mr.  Smith  again  began  searching  for 
them,  and  at  last  his  labor  was  rewarded.  He 
found  that  his  wife,  thinking  he  was  dead,  had 
married  in  the  mean  time  Daniel  Leviltou.  who 
was  then  deceased.  Of  his  family,  but  two  were 
living,  William  and  our  subject,  who  were  both 
married  and  had  families.  The  mother  was  mak- 
ing her  home  with  our  subject.  After  the  matter 
had  been  thoroughly  investigated,  it  was  found 
that  Mrs.  Smith's  relatives  were  to  blame  for  the 
whole  trouble. 

John  Smith  was  only  six  years  old  when  his  father 
left  home,  and  he  went  to  live  with  a  farmer,  with 
whom  he  made  his  home  for  a  year.  Next,  going 
to  Naples,  he  worked  for  a  man  who  ran  an  hotel 
and  livery  stable.  For  a  year  he  ran  errands  and 
waited  on  the  table,  after  which  he  went  to  Jack- 
sonville and  drove  a  stage  from  that  point  to 
Brighton,  and  also  helped  at  the  hotel  at  odd 
times  for  three  years.  Then,  being  fifteen  years 
old,  he  hired  out  to  farmers  for  the  following 
two  years.  The  next  five  years  he  was  employed 
in  Brown  County,  111.,  and  then  returned  to  Pike 
County,  where  he  rented  a  farm  for  three  years. 

The  first  property  owned  by  our  subject  was  a 
tract  of  eighty  acres  in  Adams  County.  He  be- 
came a  thorough  agriculturist  and  success  crowned 
his  labors,  for  in  1878  his  property  in  that  county 
comprised  three  hundred  and  fifty  acres.  This 
farm  he  still  owns,  but  in  1878  he  came  to  take 
possession  of  the  farm  that  was  given  him  by 
his  father.  This  place  comprises  three  hundred 
and  sixty  acres,  and  is  one  of  the  best-improved 
farms  in  the  township. 

On    the   10th    of    April,   1864,   Mr.  Smith   and 


Miss  Ruth  Kaylor  were  joined  in  matrimony.  She 
was  born  in  Pike  County,  111.,  and  died  in  1875, 
having  had  four  children:  Lydia  E.,  who  is  now 
the  wife  of  John  Robinson,  a  farmer  of  Christian 
County;  Ellen  G., deceased;  George  Thomas,  who 
is  also  a  farmer  of  this  county;  and  John  Will- 
iam, who  is  still  at  home.  On  the  7th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1875,  our  subject  married  Miss  Sarah  E.  Lane, 
who  was  born  in  Adams  County,  111.,  and  is  a 
daughter  of  Jasper  Lane.  Four  children  have 
been  born  of  this  union,  three  of  whom  died  in 
infancy.  Myrtle  resides  with  her  parents. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Smith  is  a  supporter  of  the  Pro- 
hibition party.  With  his  wife,  he  holds  mem- 
bership with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  lie 
has  never  been  desirous  of  official  positions,  but 
at  one  time  served  as  Road  Commissioner.  As  his 
boyhood  years  were  passed  under  such  unusual 
circumstances,  it  can  plainly  be  seen  that  his  edu- 
cational facilities  were  almost  entirely  lacking,  and 
whatever  he  has  accomplished  in  life  has  been  en- 
tirely due  to  his  courage  and  other  other  worthy 
qualities.  He  has  surely  had  the  greatest  diffi- 
culties to  surmount,  but  even  in  childhood  was 
brave  and  ambitious  to  succeed,  and  he  has  been 
prospered  beyond  his  expectations. 


JOSEPH  C.  CREIGHTON  is  an  able  mem- 
ber of  the  legal  profession  of   Taylorville. 
Christian  County  has  many  lawyers  of  wide 
reputation — some,  men  of  years  and  experi- 
ence, and  others  comparatively  young  in  practice. 
Among  the  latter  class  is  our  subject,  but  skill  and 
ability  have  won  him  a  reputation  which  may  well 
be  envied  by  many  an  older  practitioner. 

Mr.  Creighton  is  descended  from  Southern  fam- 
ilies, and  on  his  father's  side  traces  his  ancestry 
back  to  Scotland,  although  his  progenitors  lived 
for  two  or  three  generations  in  Ireland  prior  to 
coming  to  this  country,  and  one  branch  of  the 
family  remained  in  the  Emerald  Isle,  where  many 
of  the  descendants  are  still  to  be  found.  The 


432 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


great-grandfather,  John  Creighton,  reared  eight 
sons, six  of  whom,  with  most  of  their  descendants, 
remained  in  the  Southern  States,  the  others  being 
scattered  in  the  North  and  West.  The  family  in 
Scotland.  Ireland,  England  and  America  has  con- 
tributed largely  to  the  clerical  profession,  and  has 
also  furnished  many  distinguished  physicians  and 
lawyers.  The  grandfather  of  our  subject,  Joseph 
Creighton,  was  born  in  South  Carolina,  and  came 
to  the  Territory  of  Illinois  about  1868,  locating 
in  what  is  now  White  County.  The  maternal 
grandfather,  John  Crews,  was  a  native  of  Virginia, 
and  came  to  Illinois  in  1817,  locating  in  what  is 
now  Wayne  County.  Both  grandfathers  were 
farmers  and  Methodist  poachers. 

The  father  of  our  subject,  John  M.  Creighton, 
was  born  in  White  County,  111.,  in  1821,  and 
wedded  Mary  Ann  Crews,  who  was  born  in  Wayne 
County,  in  1827.  They  had  eight  sons  and  one 
daughter,  namely:  James  A.,  Judge  of  the  Cir- 
cuit Court  of  Springfield,  111.;  Jacob  R.,  now  an 
attorney  of  Fairfield,  111.,  who  has  been  twice 
elected  as  State's  Attorney  and  was  candidate  for 
Attorney-General  on  the  Democratic  State  ticket; 
Charles  E.,  a  Methodist  minister,  now  deceased; 
Joseph  C-,  of  this  sketch;  Martha  E.,  wife  of  Dr. 
W.  S.  Borah,  of  Baldwin,  La.;  Walter,  who  died 
in  infancy;  Milton  M.,  an  attorney  of  Li teh field, 
111.;  and  John  M.  and  Thomas  F.,  both  of  whom 
are  living  on  the  home  farm  in  Wayne  County. 
The  father  of  this  family  died  in  1869,  but  the 
mother  is  still  living  on  the  old  homestead,  four 
miles  east  of  Fairfield. 

We  now  take  up  the  personal  history  of  Joseph 
C.  Creighton,  whose  birth  occurred  in  Wayne 
County  on  the  13th  of  January,  1855.  He  was 
reared  to  manhood  under  the  parental  roof,  and 
remained  in  the  county  of  his  nativity  until  Au- 
gust, 1881,  when  he  came  to  this  county.  He 
fitted  himself  for  his  profession  by  reading  law 
with  his  brother,  Judge  Creighton,  of  Springfield, 
111.  He  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  Taylorville, 
and  here  opened  an  office  in  1881.  Four  years 
later  the  present  firm  of  Ricks  &  Creighton  was 
formed,  and  has  since  continued.  They  have  had 
a  successful  career,  and  Mr.  Creighton  lias  been 
honored  with  the  following  official  positions:  In 


1882,  he  was  elected  City  Attorney,  and  re-elected 
in  1884.  The  same  year  he  was  appointed  Master 
in  Chancery,  was  re-appointed  in  1886,  and  filled 
the  office  until  1888.  In  that  year  he  was  elected 
State's  Attorney  for  the  county,  was  again  chosen 
for  the  position  in  1892,  and  is  still  creditably 
filling  the  office. 

On  the  17th  of  June,  1884,  Mr.  Creighton  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Cordelia  B.  Allen,  an 
accomplished  young  lady  of  Taylorville.  They 
occupy  prominent  positions  in  social  circles  and 
are  highly  esteemed  by  all.  They  are  people  of 
literary  tastes,  and  Mr.  Creighton  has  in  his  library 
a  very  valuable,  as  well  as  rare,  work  on  medical 
jurisprudence,  which  formerly  was  owned  by  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  and  as  such  is  cherished  as  an  inter- 
esting relic.  The  public  and  private  life  of  our 
subject  are  alike  above  reproach,  and  the  faithful- 
ness and  fidelity  with  which  he  has  ever  performed 
his  official  duties  have  won  him  the  highest  com- 
mendation of  all  concerned,  whether  of  his  polit- 
ical belief  or  not. 


<^ffLONZO  A.  AUSTIN,  one  of  the  repre- 
®/'  II  sentative  agriculturists  of  Pans  Town- 
jl  I*  ship,  residing  on  section  33,  has  the  holloi- 
ng of  being  a  native  of  Illinois.  He  was 
born  in  St.  Clair  County  January  21,  1861,  and  is 
the  eldest  child  of  Jesse  W.  and  Mary  M.  (Miles) 
Austin.  His  father,  who  is  now  deceased,  was  a 
prominent  farmer  of  this  community.  He  was 
born  in  Indiana  September  19,  1832,  and  was  the 
third  child  of  George  and  Polly  Austin,  the 
former  a  native  of  Tennessee,  and  the  latter  a  na- 
tive of  the  Hoosier  State.  Jesse  Austin  was  reared 
from  infancy  in  St.  Clair  County,  III.,  and  the 
public  schools  afforded  him  his  educational  privi- 
leges. At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  started  out  in 
life  for  himself.  Going  to  St.  Louis,  he  spent  a 
portion  of  his  time  in  a  livery  stable  and  on  a 
farm.  Three  years  later  he  went  to  Cairo,  111., 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


433 


where  he  worked  in  a  sawmill  for  a  time  and  then 
returned  to  St.  Glair  County,  where  he  ran  a 
threshing-machine. 

Mr.  Austin  was  married  March  19,  1860,  to 
Mary  Miles,  and  they  began  their  domestic  life  in 
St.  Clair  County,  coming  thence  to  Christian 
County  in  1867.  He  here  purchased  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  land  on  section  35,  Pana  Town- 
ship, and  began  its  improvement.  In  1879,  he 
added  to  it  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  and  built 
a  fine  residence.  He  was  a  very  prosperous  farmer 
and  accumulated  a  handsome  property.  In  early 
life-  he  was  a  Democrat  and  voted  for  Stephen  A. 
Douglas,  but  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  be- 
came a  Republican.  He  held  membership  with 
-the  Odd  Fellows'  Lodge.  He  died  July  3,  1891. 
His  widow  still  lives  on  the  homestead. 

Mrs.  Austin,  mother  of  our  subject,  was  born  in 
St.  Clair  County  February  2,  1842,  and  is  the 
daughter  of  Alex  and  Sarah  (Clarke)  Mills,  both 
natives  of  New  York.  Her  father  died  when  she 
was  only  eight  years  old.  Her  mother  is  now 
living  in  St.  Clair  County,  at  the  age  of  eighty 
years.  Mrs.  Austin  was  the  third  child  in  order  of 
birth  in  a  family  of  twelve.  She  has  become  the 
mother  of  four  children:  Alonzo  A.,  William  J., 
Owen  J.,  and  Amy,  wife  of  Jesse  Adams.  Mrs. 
Austin  is  the  owner  of  a  fine  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres,  which  is  now  rented  to  her  son 
William. 

In  taking  up  the  personal  history  of  Alonzo 
Austin  we  learn  that  he  spent  the  first  six  years  of 
his  life  in  his  native  county,  and  then  came  with 
his  parents  to  Christian  County.  He  had  previ- 
ously begun  his  education,  which  was  completed 
in  the  schools  of -Pana.  To  his  father  he  gave 
the  benefit  of  his  services  throughout  his  youth, 
remaining  at  home  until  twenty-five  years  of 
age.  He  then  chose  as  a  companion  and  help- 
mate on  life's  journey  Miss  Maria,  daughter  of 
Cyrus  and  Hannah  (Wilson)  Rayhill.  She  was 
born  in  Indiana,  and  their  marriage  was  celebrated 
March  11,  1886.  One  child  graces  their  union, 
Epho  F.,  born  February  20,  1889. 

Mr.  Austin  located  upon  his  present  farm  in 
1876.  He  here  owns  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres,  and  in  addition  has  one  hundred  and  ten 
22 


acres  on  sections  27  and  36,  which  he  rents.  In 
politics,  he  is  an  advocate  of  the  Republican 
party,  and  is  now  serving  as  School  Director.  He 
belongs  to  Pana  Lodge  No.  226,  A.  F.  &  A.  M., 
and  also  to  the  Woodman  Lodge  of  Pana,  and  to 
the  Protective  Association.  He  carries  on  general 
farming  and  stock-raising,  and  is  recognized  as 
one  of  the  leading  young  agriculturists  of  Chris- 
tian County.  He  possesses  good  business  ability, 
is  industrious,  and  the  success  that  comes  from 
earnest  toil  will  no  doubt  crown  his  efforts  in  a 
high  degree. 


/*P  OL.  WILLIAM  M.  READING,  one  of  the 
(if  popular  citizens  and  prominent  stock-buyers 
^^^/  of  Pana  Township,  residing  on  section  6, 
well  deserves  representation  in  the  history  of  his 
adopted  county,  an,d  with  pleasure  we  present  this 
record  of  his  life  to  our  readers.  He  was  born  in 
Pike  County,  Mo.,  June  25,  1828.  His  grandfather, 
George  Reading,  was  born  near  Reading,  Pa.,  and 
in  an  early  day  removed  to  Kentucky.  He  was  a 
miller  and  farmer,  and  built  a  gristmill  in  that 
State.  John  Reading,  father  of  the  Colonel,  was 
born  in  Harrison,  Ky.,  and  after  arriving  at  years 
of  maturity  married  Sarah  D.  Maxwell,  who  was 
born  in  Bourbon  County,  Ky.  The  marriage  of 
this  couple  was  celebrated  in  Pike  Count}',  Mo., 
and  they  immediately  afterwards  located  on  a 
farm  near  the  border  of  Louisiana,  their  respective 
families  having  removed  thither  in  an  early  day. 
The  paternal  grandfather  and  the  maternal  great- 
grandfather were  both  Revolutionary  soldiers.  In 
1830,  the  parents  removed  to  what  was  then 
Marion  County,  Mo.,  but  afterwards  became  Lewis 
County,  Mo.  The  father  there  built  a  grist  and 
saw  mill,  but  he  was  not  long  permitted  to  enjoy 
his  new  home,  his  death  occurring  in  1832,  at  the 
age  of  thirty-six  years.  His  wife  long  survived 
him  and  passed  away  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight. 
The  Colonel  is  their  only  son,  but  they  had  five 
daughters,  all  of  whom  grew  to  womanhood. 


434 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Nancy  M.  is  now  the  widow  of  Robert  Creasy,  of 
Lewis  County,  Mo.;  Elizabeth  is  the  widow  of 
Daniel  Creasy,  and  resides  in  the  same  county; 
Jane  E.  is  the  wife  of  James  Dickson,  of  Quincj', 
111.;  Sarah  Ann  is  now  deceased;  and  Mrs.  Rebecca 
Susan  Jennings  has  also  passed  away. 

Col.  Reading,  who  was  the  fourth  iu  order  of 
birth,  was  reared  in  the  county  of  his  nativity 
and  was  educated  in  the  district  schools.  He  was 
a  lad  of  only  four  years  when  his  father  died- 
When  he  was  still  quite  young  the  care  of  his 
widowed  mother  and  sisters  fell  upon  him.  They 
lived  in  a  new  country,  and  the  development  of 
the  land  was  an  arduous  task.  In  1853,  he  went 
to  La  Grange,  Mo.,  where  he  was  employed  as. a 
collector  for  a  general  store.  In  1855,  he  bought 
an  interest  in  the  business  and  continued  operations 
in  that  line  until  1861,  when  he  sold  out. 

In  August,  1862,  Mr.  Reading  organized  a  regi- 
ment of  militia  in  Lewis  and  Clark  Counties 
Mo.,  and  on  the  19th  of  December,  that  3'ear,  he 
was  commissioned  Colonel  of  the  Sixty-ninth  Mis- 
souri Infantry.  He  commanded  his  troops  until 
1864,  and  was  engaged  in  fighting  bushwhackers 
and  guerrillas  and  in  keeping  order  in  that  much- 
disputed  territory,  his  headquarters  being  at 
La  Grange,  Mo.  He  received  an  appointment  as 
Assessor  of  the  Tenth  Division  of  the  Second  Dis- 
trict of  Missouri,  and  discharged  the  duties  con- 
nected with  that  position,  when  not  engaged  in 
skirmishing.  The  regiment  was  orderqd  to  dis- 
band in  1864.  Col.  Reading  then  resumed  mer- 
chandising in  La  Grange,  where  he  remaind  until 
1878.  That  year  witnessed  his  arrival  in  Christian 
County,  111.,  since  which  time  he  has  been  engaged 
in  farming  and  stock-raising  He  is  now  one  of 
the  largest  stock-dealers  in  the  community. 

The  Colonel  was  married  May  23,  1848,  to 
Sarah  Ann  Hampton,  who  was  born  in  Missouri, 
and  died  April  12,  1854,  leaving  two  daughters: 
Sarah,  wife  of  Charles  Roth,  of  East  German  town, 
Ind.;  and  Susan,  wife  of  Calvin  Wiseman,  of  Lewis 
County,  Mo.  On  the  1st  of  November,  1855,  Mr. 
Reading  was  joined  in  marriage  with  Miss  Mary  J. 
Ring,  a  native  of  Greenbrier  County,  W.  Va. 
They  have  had  a  family  of  nine  children:  John  J., 
deceased;  William  M.,  of  St.  Paul,  Minn.;  Anna 


Mary,  who  died  in  infancy;  Joseph  G.,  at  home; 
James  A.,  who  died  in  infancy;  Nannie  May,  wife 
of  Edward  Coonrbd,  of  this  county;  Emma  J..  who 
is  engaged  in  teaching;  Maud,  who  is  also  a  teach- 
er; and  Grace,  a  student  in  the  High  School  at 
Taylorville. 

In  politics,  the  Colonel  was  a  Whig  until  the  or- 
ganization of  the  American  party,  and  since  1864 
he  has  been  a  stalwart  Republican.  He  served  as 
Councilman  and  Treasurer  of  the  town  of  La 
Grange,  and  in  politics  takes  quite  a  prominent 
part.  He  has  organized  many  Republican  clubs, 
and  does  all  in  his  power  to  promote  the  interests 
of  his  party.  He  is  a  popular,  genial  gentleman, 
who  makes  friends  wherever  he  goes.  He  is  a  man 
of  kindly  and  generous  impulses,  and  his  sociabil- 
ity and  sterling  qualities  have  gained  him  univer- 
sal confidence  and  esteem. 


JOHN  S.  FRALEY  was  a  successful  farmer  of 
May  Township  for  a  great  many  years,  and 
at  the  time  of  his  death  left  a  considerable 
estate.     His  children  are  numbered  among 
the  best  citizens  of  the  community,  as  they  were 
reared  to  lives  of  usefulness  and   industry.     The 
birth  of  Mr.  Fraley  occurred  in  Franklin  Count}-, 
Ohio,  June    6,    1818.     In    1850    he    removed    to 
Christian  County,  111.,  casting  in  his  lot  with  the 
few  pioneers  who  had  previously  located  here. 

On  the  26th  of  July,  1867,  Mr.  Fraley  and  Miss 
Augusta  Anderson  were  married.  The  lady  was 
born  January  17,  1841,  in  Wyandotte  County, 
Ohio,  being  a  daughter  of  William  and  Eliza 
(McCoy)  Anderson.  The  father  was  a  native  of 
Pittsburgh  and  grew  to  manhood  in  Pennsylvania. 
He  came  to  Christian  County  after  his  marriage, 
arriving  here  in  1851,  and  engaged  in  farming 
for  a  number  of  years  in  this  county.  His  death 
occurred  in  Colorado  at  the  age  of  eighty-three 
years.  He  was  of  German  descent,  while  his  wife's 
people  were  of  Irish  ancestry.  She  was  the  mother 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


435 


of  twelve  children,  only  three  of  whom  are  now 
living.  One  of  the  number,  Benjamin  F.,  is  a 
farmer  of  Colorado.  Amanda  Jane  became  the 
wife  of  John  Secrest,  who  is  a  well-known  farmer 
of  this  county.  Mrs.  Anderson  died  at  the  age  of 
sixty-one  years. 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fraley  was  born  a  family  of 
three  children.  Wallace  is  one  of  the  progressive 
and  well-to-do  farmers  of  this  county;  Oscar  re- 
sides with  his  mother;  and  Nellie  died  when  only 
three  years  of  age.  Oscar,  who  is  twenty-four  years 
of  age,  is  an  invalid,  never  having  walked.  Wallace 
was  married  to  Miss  Frances  Goodrich,  of  Shelby 
County,  November  20,  1890,  and  is  now  farming 
the  home  place. 

The  farm  formerly  operated  by  Mr.  Fraley  is 
one  of  the  best  in  the  township,  the  residence  be- 
ing on  section  29.  He  was  very  successful  as  an 
agriculturist  and  was  numbered  among  the  enter- 
prising business  men  of  the  neighborhood.  He 
was  called  from  this  life  March  1,  1888,  and  lies 
buried  in  Fraley  Cemetery,  which  is  located  on 
the  old  homestead.  He  was  a  man  of  strict  integ- 
rity and  was  highly  thought  of  by  his  friends  and 
neighbors. 


EDWIN  HARRIS,  one  of  the  honored  early 
pioneers  of  Christian  County,  owns  and 
operates  a  farm  on  section  10,  May  Town- 
ship. For  over  half  a  century  he  has  been  identi- 
fied with  the  remarkable  progress  of  this  part  of  the 
State,  having  settled  in  this  county  in  1840.  He 
was  born  October  18,  1824,  in  Dixon  County, 
Tenn.,  being  a  son  of  Silas  and  Toboisy  (Shappcl) 
Harris.  The  father  was  a  native  of  North  Caro- 
lina, where  he  remained  until  arriving  at  man's 
estate.  After  his  marriage  he  removed  to  Tennes- 
see, where  he  engaged  in  farming  until  1840.  At 
that  time  he  came  to  Illinois,  and  entered  land 
from  the  Government  in  Christian  County.  On 
this  place  he  continued  to  reside  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  his  seventy-eighth  year.  He 


was  among  the  first  settlers  of  the  county,  and 
among  them  he  was  favorably  known.  He  was  a 
descendant  of  English  and  Irish  stock.  His  wife 
was  also  born  in  North  Carolina,  where  she  grew 
to  womanhood  and  was  mariied.  She  passed  from 
this  life  in  1848,  on  the  old  homestead,  and  lies 
buried  by  her  husband's  side  in  the  Harris  Ceme- 
tery, situated  on  the  old  farm. 

Edwin  Harris  is  one  of  a  family  of  fourteen 
children,  being  the  eleventh  in  order  of  birth.  His 
boyhood  and  early  youth  were  passed  in  Tennes- 
see, where  he  pursued  the  usual  life  of  a  farmer 
lad.  He  was  sixteen  years  of  age  when  he  came 
to  this  county  with  his  parents,  and  to  them  his 
services  were  dutifully  given  in  clearing  and  cul- 
tivating the  new  farm  until  he  attained  his  ma- 
jority. He  then  started  out  in  the  battle  of  life 
for  himself,  working  for  his  father  on  the  home 
farm,  which  he  operated  for  some  years. 

For  his  life  companion  Mr.  Harris  chose  Miss 
Ann  Bugg,  their  union  being  celebrated  Novem- 
ber 28,  1850.  Mrs.  Harris  was  born  June  7,  1829, 
in  Yorkshire,  England,  and  is  a  daughter  of 
Thomas  and  Mary  Ann  (Bradley)  Bugg.  The  fa- 
ther was  a  native  of  Yorkshire,  and  emigrated  to 
the  United  States  in  1837,  first  settling  on  a  farm 
near  Terre  Haute,  Ind.,  where  he  remained  for 
eight  years.  In  1845  he  came  to  Christian  County 
and  entered  land  from  the  Government.  There 
he  made  his  home  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
January  31,  1858,  at  the  age  of  fifty-five  years. 
His  wife,  who  is  still  living,  was  born  July  21, 
1805,  in  Yorkshire.  She  is  making  her  home  with 
her  daughter,  Mrs.  Harris,  and  has  been  blind  for 
thirty-four  years.  Otherwise  she  retains  all  her 
faculties,  and  well  remembers  when  this  localKy 
was  a  wilderness,  with  numerous  wolves  and  other 
wild  game. 

Two  children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Harris.  Robert  T.  is  a  prosperous  farmer  of  Chris- 
tian County.  He  is  mairied  and  has  a  family  of 
six  living  children:  Mary  E.,  Edwin  C.,  Schuyler, 
Rowley,  Hattie  May  and  Orville,  who  are  all  liv- 
ing at  home.  Two  children,  Robert  and  Minnie, 
ilied  in  infancy.  Harriet  E.,  our  subject's  younger 
child,  is  the  widow  of  Delbert  C.  Pinney,  and  is 
now  living  with  her  parents  and  has  the  care  of 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


her  son,  Otis  D.,  now  thirteen  years  old.  Mr.  Pin- 
ney  died  in  Ohio,  in  1882.  Mary  L.,  her  step- 
child, is  now  in  Ohio. 

The  farm  of  Mr.  Harris  is  one  of  the  best  in  the 
township  and  comprises  eighty  acres.  He  has  im- 
proved it  materially  since  it  first  came  into  his 
possession,  and  it  is  a  model  one  in  every  respect. 
In  his  political  views,  Mr.  Harris  is  on  the  People's 
ticket,  and,  religiously,  holds  membership  witli  tlie 
Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church. 


^ILLIAM  HENRY  HARP,  a  well-known 
dentist  of  Morrisonville,  has  made  his  own 
way  in  the  world  from  early  years,  and  is 
self-educated.  His  success  in  life  is  due  entirely 
to  his  industrious  and  persevering  efforts  and  his 
ambition  to  rise  in  the  world.  His  birth  occurred 
in  Dayton,  Ohio,  February  23,  1869,  and  his  early 
years  were  passed  on  a  farm  near  Hillsboro,  111. 

Our  subject's  parents,  Henry  and  Eliza  (Kuhn) 
Harp,  are  natives  of  Ohio.  The  father  was  a 
son  of  Jacob  Harp,  also  a  native  of  the  Buckeye 
State,  and  a  merchant  and  successful  trader.  He 
died  when  over  eighty  years  of  age,  at  Dayton, 
Ohio.  Mrs.  Harp  is  a  daughter  of  Benjamin 
Kuhn,  of  Ohio,  who  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-five 
years.  Henry  Harp  is  a  cooper  by  trade,  but  of 
late  years  has  devoted  himself  to  agricultural  pur- 
suits. In  1870,  he  came  to  the  Prairie  State  and 
purchased  a  farm  of  ninety  acres,  east  of  Hillsboro, 
which  has  since  been  his  home.  He  was  a  valiant 
soldier  in  the  late  war,  enlisting  in  an  Ohio  regi- 
ment and  serving  for  over  three  years  in  behalf  of 
the  Union  cause.  He  and  his  wife  are  devoted 
members  of  the  Methodist  Church. 

In  a  family  of  seven  children,  three  sons  and  four 
daughters,  the  Doctor  is  the  second  in  order  of 
birth,  the  others  being  as  follows:  Frank,  John, 
Amanda,  Lydia,  Alice  and  Emma.  When  fourteen 
years  of  age,  Dr.  Harp  went  to  school  at  Irving, 
111.,  and  remained  there  pursuing  his  studies  for 
three  years.  He  afterward  attended  school  at  Lin- 


coln, after  which  he  taught  school  for  two  terms 
in  Logan  County.  After  taking  the  prescribed 
course  of  study  in  the  Indiana  Dental  College,  at 
Indianapolis,  he  graduated  from  that  institution 
in  1891.  He  came  to  Morrisonville  in  the  spring 
of  that  year  and  began  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion. Though  but  little  over  two  years  have 
elapsed  since  that  time,  he  has  already  acquired  an 
extensive  practice,  and  lias  made  a  reputation  for 
conscientious  and  reliable  work. 

On  the  8th  of  October,  1891,  occurred  the  wed- 
ding of  Dr.  Harp  and  Miss  Daisy  May  Vorhees,  of 
Morrisonville.  The  lady  is  a  daughter  of  Dr. 
Charles  and  Margaret  E.  (Lindsey)  Vorhees,  who 
are  well-known  citizens  of  this  place. 

In  regard  to  the  question  of  politics,  Dr.  Harp 
uses  his  influence  and  ballot  in  support  of  Demo- 
cratic nominees  and  measures.  He  is  a  young  man 
of  promise  and  the  course  he  has  pursued  in  life 
thus  far  is  worthy  of  commendation.  It  is  his  con- 
stant aim  to  keep  entirely  abreast  of  the  times  in 
everything  relating  to  dentistry,  and  he  there- 
fore peruses  the  best  medical  journals  and  keeps  up 
with  his  studies  in  that  direction.  He  is  a  most 
estimable  young  man,  and  has  made  many  friends 
during  the  two  years  of  his  residence  in  this  place 


J^fF  UGUST  MUNDHENKE,  who  is  a  farmer 
I1OI  residing  on  section  23,  Ricks  Township,  is 
I  ifc  one  of  the  German-born  citizens  of  Chris- 
||f  tian  County,  and  has  taken  no  little  share 
in  the  promotion  of  her  prosperity.  His  birth  oc- 
cured  in  Elanover,  Germany,  in  the  city  of  Hammel, 
October  2,  1835.  He  is  a  son  of  Frederick  and 
Carolina  (Langen)  Mundhenke.  The  father  was  a 
farmer  and  followed  that  vocation  throughout  life. 
He  reared  a  family  of  five  children,  and  died  in 
1873,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years.  His  wife 
had  passed  awa}-  the  year  before.  They  were 
members  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  and  brought 
up  their  children  to  be  good  and  useful  men  and 
women.  Their  eldest  son,  William,  served  for  ten 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


437 


years  in  the  German  army;  Henry,  now  deceased, 
settled  in  1857  near  Palmer;  Carolina  is  the  wife 
of  William  Michaelman,  of  Greenwood  Township; 
Louisa  died  at  the  age  of  forty  years;  and  our  sub- 
ject is  the  youngest  of  the  children  living. 

The  boyhood  of  August  Mundhenke  was  passed  on 
the  old  farm  in  Germany,  and  for  eight  years  he 
attended  the  public  schools  and  assisted  in  farm 
work.  At  the  age  of  twenty,  he  came  to  America, 
leaving  Bremen  and  landing  in  New  York  City 
after  a  voyage  of  forty-nine  days.  Coming  to 
Illinois,  he  took  charge  of  a  farm  in  Montgomery 
County  which  belonged  to  his  brother,  who  had 
preceded  him  here  about  four  years.  The  date  of 
our  subject's  arrival  in  the  Prairie  State  is  1856, 
and  for  three  years  he  worked  by  the  month  at 
farm  labor.  He  had  only  $7.50  on  arriving  at  his 
brother's,  but  was  so  industrious  and  frugal  that  he 
soon  managed  to  lay  by  considerable  money,  which 
he  invested  in  a  farm.  Later  selling  out,  he  came 
to  his  present  home,  in  1869,  and  bought  the  farm, 
which  was  then  wild  prairie  land,  and  he  turned  the 
first  sod  on  the  place.  This  beautiful  and  fertile 
farm  bears  little  resemblance  to  its  former  condi- 
tion, as  it  is  well  drained  and  cultivated.  He  has 
three  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  which  he  has  made 
by  honest  labor  and  economy. 

In  Macoupin  County,  Mr.  Mundheyke  married 
in  1859  Phoebe  Richardson,  a  native  of  that 
county.  She  died  in  Montgomery  County,  leav- 
ing one  son,  Oscar,  a  well-to-do  farmer  of  Ricks 
Township.  Our  subject  afterwards  married  Sarah 
Jane,  daughter  of  William  King,  now  deceased. 
She  was  born  in  Shelby  County,  Ind.,  and  came 
with  her  parents  to  Illinois,  where  she  grew  to 
womanhood.  Unto  our  subject  and  wife  were  born 
the  following  children:  Ernest,  who  died  in  infancy; 
John  Henry,  a  teacher  in  Bushnell  College,  of  Bush- 
nell,  111.;  James,  who  is  engaged  in  farming  with 
his  brother  Oscar;  Lina  May,  wife  of  William 
Casine,  of  Jersey  County;  George,  who  has  charge 
of  the  home  farm;  Dell,  Norman,  Ida  and  Ethel, 
who  are  at  home.  They  have  been  educated  in  the 
common  schools  and  are  thus  well  equipped  for  the 
battle  of  life. 

In  all  questions  of  politics,  Mr.  Mundhenke  is 
greatly  interested,  and  is  one  of  the  loyal  suppor- 


ters of  the  Republican  party.  He  cast  his  first  bal- 
lot in  1864  for  Abraham  Lincoln  and  had  the 
pleasure  of  hearing  him  speak  in  Hillsboro.  He 
also  attended  a  lecture  delivered  by  the  great 
statesman  Douglas.  He  usually  attends  the  con- 
ventions of  his  party.  He  has  served  for  one  term 
as  Road  Commissioner,  but  is  not  desirous  of  of- 
ficial honors.  He  still  adheres  to  the  faith  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  in  which  he  was  reared,  and  is  a 
worthy,  industrious  citizen,  who  is  loyal  to  his 
adopted  country  and  has  always  endeavored  to  up- 
hold her  laws. 


EONARD  HOOVER,  who  owns  a  well- 
$.  equipped  farm  on  section  17,  May  Town- 
)ip)  js  a  self-made  man,  having  started 
out  in  the  battle  of  life  without  capital,  and  in 
spite  of  adverse  circumstances  and  the  discour- 
agements that  come  to  all,  he  has  acquired  a  good 
competence  and  a  well-improved  farm.  He  is  one 
of  the  honored  veterans  of  the  late  war,  and  was 
several  times  wounded  while  serving  in  the  de- 
fense of  the  Union. 

A  native  of  Columbus,  Ohio,  Mr.  Hoover's  birth 
occurred  January  18,  1833.  He  was  next  to  the 
youngest  in  a  family  of  ten  children  born  to 
Samuel 'and  Phoebe  (Westbrook)  Hoover.  The 
family  are  all  now  deceased  with  the  exception  of 
our  subject  and  his  two  brothers,  Richard  and 
Timothy.  The  former  is  engaged  in  farming  in 
Missouri,  and  the  latter  follows  a  similar  calling  in 
Texas.  Samuel  Hoover  was  a  native  of  the  Key- 
stone State,  where  he  grew  to  maturity.  Thence 
he  went  to  Ohio,  where  he  was  married,  after 
which  he  engaged  in  farming  in  the  Buckeye 
State  for  several  years.  About  1837  he  came  to 
Illinois,  making  a  settlement  at  Woodburn,  Ma- 
coupin County,  where  he  resided  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  when  he  was  about  sixty  years  of 
age.  His  ancestors  were  natives  of  Germany,  who 
settled  in  the  United  States  at  an  early  day,  and 


438 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


his  father  participated  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 
The  mother  of  our  subject  was  born  in  New  York 
State,  and  died  in  Christian  County  at  an  ad- 
vanced age. 

Leonard  Hoover  was  only  a  small  boy  when  he 
came  to  this  State  with  his  parents.  He  lived  at 
home  until  his  father's  death,  when  he  took  his 
mother  and  supported  her  during  the  remainder 
of  her  days.  He  learned  the  blacksmith's  trade  in 
»St.  Louis,  at  which  calling  he  worked  for  about 
eleven  years.  In  1857,  he  came  to  this  county 
and  purchased  the  farm  where  he  now  resides,  at 
that  time  only  owning  forty  acres,  however.  The 
land  was  in  a  wild  condition,  and  he  at  once  began 
its  improvement.  For  several  years  he  worked 
more  or  less  at  his  trade  in  connection  with  carry- 
ing on  his  farm. 

In  July,  1861,  Mr.  Hoover  enlisted  as  a  member 
of  Company  G,  Forty-first  Illinois  Regiment,  and 
was  in  active  service  for  three  years.  He  par- 
ticipated in  the  siege  of  Ft.  Donelson  and  Ft. 
Henry,  in  the  former  battle  receiving  two  flesh 
wounds  and  being  taken  prisoner  by  the  rebels. 
In  a  few  hours,  however,  he  managed  to  escape,  as 
the  enemy  thought  he  was  too  seriously  injured 
to  travel  and  therefore  did  not  place  him  under 
strong  guard.  At  the  battle  of  Shiloli  he  also  sus- 
tained slight  injury.  Under  the  circumstances 
most  men  would  have  felt  it  impossible  to  leave 
home,  but  Mr.  Hoover  felt  impelled  to  take  up 
arms  in  defense  of  the  Flag.  He  made  arrange- 
ments for  his  three  children  to  live  with  a  neigh- 
bor during  his  absence,  and  left  his  farm  and  other 
interests  to  take  care  of  themselves. 

On  his  return  from  the  war  our  subject  resumed 
farming  in  this  county  and  has  ever  since  devoted 
his  entire  attention  to  the  cultivation  and  im- 
provement of  his  place.  It  comprises  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  acres  of  feitile  land,  which  has  been 
so  well  improved  that  it  is  considered  one  of  the 
most  desirable  pieces  of  property  in  May  Town- 
ship. 

In  1853,  Mr.  Hoover  and  Miss  Barbara  Rubey, 
of  Ohio,  were  united  in  marriage.  She  was  called 
from  this  life  in  May,  1860,  leaving  three  children 
to  mourn  her  loss.  John,  the  eldest,  is  a  well-to- 
do  farmer  of  Idaho.  Phoebe  Ann  became  the  wife 


of  Alonzo  Mayo,  and  is  a  resident  of  Nevada,  Mo. 
Samuel  is  engaged  in  farming  in  the  State  of 
Washington.-  In  1866,  our  subject  was  married  to 
Miss  Mary  Ann  Chatham,  of  Fayette  County. 
They  have  one  child,  Charles  W.,  who  is  a  resident 
of  Taylorville,  Christian  County.  Mr.  Hoover  is 
in  political  faith  a  Republican, and  is  a  member  of 
Taylorville  Post  No.  392,  G.  A.  R.  He  is  now 
serving  his  sixth  year  as  a  Commissioner  of  High- 
ways, and  in  that  office  has  done  much  toward  the 
improvement  of  roads  in  this  locality. 


ILLIAM  BUGG,  one  of  the  representative 
farmers  and  pioneers  of  Christian  County, 
is  engaged  in  farming,  as  lie  has  done  for 
many  years  past,  on  section  14,  May  Township.  He 
succeeded  to  a  part  of  the  old  homestead  belonging 
to  his  father,  who  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  on 
this  prairie.  Our  subject  was  in  the  service  in  the 
late  war,  taking  part  in  many  battles  and  engage- 
ments and  acquitting  himself  with  distinction. 

The  birth  of  William  Bugg  occurred  January  4, 
1840,  in  this  county,  where  he  has  passed  nearly 
his  entire  life.  He  is  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Susanna 
(Peck)  Bugg,  a  full  account  of  whom  may  be 
found  in  the  sketch  of  Edward  Bugg,  on  another 
page  of  this  volume.  William  is  the  fourth  in  a 
family  of  eight  children.  His  early  years  were 
passed  in  the  uneventful  manner  of  farmer  lads, 
and  his  education  was  acquired  in  the  district 
schools. 

When  twenty-two  years  of  age,  our  subject  went 
to  the  defense  of  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  enlisting 
August  12,  1862,  in  the  One  Hundred  and  Fif- 
teenth Illinois  Regiment  as  a  member  of  Company 
A.  He  continued  in  the  army  until  peace  was  de- 
clared, and  was  in  much  active  service.  For  three 
days  he  fought  in  the  front  of  the  battles  at  Chick- 
amauga  and  Lookout  Mountain.  He  wont  with 
Sherman  on  his  inarch  from  Nashville,  Tenn.,  to 
Huntsville,  Ala.,  and  was  most  fortunate  in  escap- 
ing without  receiving  a  wound  or  being  taken  a 
prisoner  at  any  time. 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


439 


On  his  return  from  the  war,  Mr.  Bugg  came  to 
the  old  homestead  and  here  engaged  in  agricul- 
tural pursuits.  On  the  21st  of  December,  1871,  he 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Allie  Creath- 
baum,  whe  was  born  October  22, 1844,  in  the  Key- 
stone State.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Elias  and  Sus- 
anna (Kamp)  Creathbaum.  Mrs.  Bugg's  parents 
removed  from  Pennsylvania  to  AVest  Virginia 
when  she  was  quite  young,  and  there  she  was 
reared  to  womanhood.  They  were  of  German  de- 
scent, and  after  their  removal  to  West  Virginia 
they  there  made  their  home  until  called  from  this 
life.  Three  children  have  blessed  the  union  of 
our  subject  and  wife.  George  II.,  the  first-born, 
died  in  infancy;  Bertha  V.,  next  in  order  of  birth, 
is  very  well  educated  and  resides  with  her  parents; 
Dwight  L.  completes  the  family.  He  assists  his 
father  in  the  care  of  his  farm  and  is  a  young  man 
of  promise. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Bugg  affiliates  with  the  Repub- 
lican party.  He  is  not  ambitious  for  political 
preferment,  but  has  served  as  Commissioner  of 
Highways.  He  is  not  a  member  of  any  church  or- 
ganization, but  attends  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  to  which  his  wife  and  daughter  belong. 
In  addition  to  general  farming,  he  devotes  consid- 
erable attention  to  the  raising  of  stock,  and  has 
made  a  success  in  this  line  of  business.  He  owns 
two  hundred  and  ninety  acres  in  his  home  farm, 
a  part  of  which  was  formerly  comprised  within 
the  limits  of  his  father's  farm  where  he  was  born. 
The  remainder  of  the  place  he  has  purchased  in 
later  years,  and  his  farm  is  noted  as  one  of  the 
best  for  raising  stock  in  May  Township. 


.  ICHARD  PECK  is  one  of  the  oldest  survi- 
vors of  pioneer  days  in  Christian  County. 
He  has  made  his  home  for  some  forty- 
I  three  years  in  this  immediate  locality, 
and  has  been  a  prominent  factor  in  the  develop- 
ment and  prosperity  of  this  county.  His  residence 
is  on  his  farm,  which  is  located  on  section  36,  May 


Township.  Mr.  Peck  is  a  native  of  Yorkshire, 
England,  his  birth  occurring  January  8,  1816.  He 
is  a  son  of  Samuel  and  Jane  (Routledge)  Peck, 
who  were  also  natives  of  the  same  shire.  The  fa- 
ther was  born  in  1778,  and  was  an  agriculturist 
in  Yorkshire  for  upwards  of  thirty  years.  In 
1834  he  determined  to  try  his  fortune  in  Amer- 
ica, and  soon  after  his  arrival  in  the  United  States 
settled  on  a  farm  near  Terre  Haute,  Ind.  He  con- 
tinued to  carry  on  agricultural  pursuits  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  this  county  when  he  had 
attained  to  an  advanced  age.  His  wife  passed 
away  on  the  farm  in  Indiana.  She  was  the  mother 
of  ten  children,  of  ^  whom  our  subject  was  the 
fourth  in  order  of  birth  and  the  only  one  now 
living. 

When  a  youth  of  fourteen  years,  Richard  Peck 
left  the  parental  roof  and  started  out  to  make  his 
own  way  in  the  world.  For  some  four  years  he 
worked  by  the  month  for  neighboring  famers, 
and  in  1834,  when  in  his  eighteenth  year,  he  de- 
cided to  come  to  America  with  his  parents.  For 
several  years  he  worked  a  portion  of  the  time  on 
his  father's  farm  in  Indiana,  while  the  remainder 
of  his  time  was  spent  as  an  agriculturist  in  the 
vicinity.  For  a  period  of  two  years  lie  worked  at 
the  molder's  trade. 

In  1850  Mr.  Peck  came  to  Christian  County, 
where  he  entered  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of 
wild  land  on  the  open  prairie.  At  that  time  there 
were  very  few  settlers  in  the  district.  They  were 
located  along  the  edge  of  the  timber,  but  there 
were  no  settlements  on  the  prairie  prior  to  Mr. 
Peck's  arrival.  His  farm,  which  he  still  owns  and 
cultivates,  he  has  greatly  improved  since  it  came 
into  his  possession.  He  has  disposed  of  a  portion 
of  his  land,  but  still  owns  two  hundred  acres, 
which  are  under  good  cultivation.  Coming  here 
a  poor  boy,  he  acquired  a  competency  sufficient  for 
his  declining  years  entirely  through  his  own  in- 
dustry and  honest  labor. 

On  the  6th  of  March,  1842,  occurred  the  mar- 
riage of  Mr.  Peck  and  Miss  Naomi  Gould,  of  Vigo 
County,  Ind.,  where  her  parents  were  early  settlers. 
Mr.  Peck  affiliates  with  the  Republican  party,  and 
though  not  an  aspirant  for  official  honors  has  been 
prevailed  upon  by  his  fellow -citizens  several  times 


440 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


to  accept  local  positions.  He  was  the  first  Town- 
ship Collector  of  May  Township,  holding  that 
position  for  seven  years  after  its  organization. 
For  fourteen  successive  years  he  was  the  efficient 
Township  Assessor,  and  in  whatever  capacity  he 
has  served  his  efforts  have  been  marked  with  com- 
mendable fidelity  and  zeal.  Fora  number  of  years 
he  has  served  as  a  School  Director,  and  has  been  a 
stanch  supporter  of  education.  In  his  social  rela- 
tions he  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  order,  belong- 
ing to  Lodge  No.  451,  of  Assumption.  He  is 
not  identified  with  any  church  organization,  but 
is  honorable  and  upright  in  his  dealings  with 
all.  He  is  justly  esteemed  one  of  the  leading  ag- 
riculturists of  his  township,  in  the  prosperity  of 
which  he  is  greatly  interested. 


NNW 1 — 


JACOB  HUBER,  M.  D.,  who  for  twenty- 
seven  years  has  engaged  in  the  practice  of 
his  profession  in  Pana,  was  born  April  11, 
1840,  in  Logan  County,  Ohio,  and  is  a  son  of 
Emanuel  and  Barbara  (Sellers)  Huber.  The  family 
lived  upon  a  farm,  and  in  the  usual  manner  of 
farmer  lads  his  early  boyhood  days  were  passed. 
At  the  usual  age  lie  entered  school,  easily  mastering 
the  common  branches.  At  the  age  of  fifteen,  he 
began  teaching  school,  and  although  so  young  he 
met  with  success  and  was  thus  employed  for  four 
years.  He  then  completed  his  literary  education 
in  the  seminaries  at  DeGraff  and  Bellefontaine, 
Ohio,  which  ended  his  regular  school  days.  On 
making  choice  of  a  business  which  he  wished  to 
follow  through  life,  he  determined  to  enter  the 
medical  profession,  and  began  the  study  of  med- 
icine under  the  direction  of  T.  L.  Wright,  M.  D., 
of  Bellefontaine.  He  afterwards  entered  the  Ohio 
Medical  College  of  Cincinnati,  and  was  graduated 
from  that  institution  in  March,  1862,  with  the  de- 
gree of  M.  D.,  and  still  later  graduated  from  the 
Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College,  N.  Y.,  in  the 
Class  of  '79  and  '80. 

The  Civil  War  was  now  in    progress,   aid    for 


the  wounded  and  suffering  was  needed,  and, 
prompted  by  patriotic  impulses,  Dr.  Huber,  the 
day  following  his  graduation,  entered  the  Forty- 
seventh  Ohio  Infantry,  March  11,  1862,  as  As- 
sistant Surgeon  under  Stephen  P.  Bonner.  He 
enlisted  in  Cincinnati  in  what  was  called  the  Wil- 
stack  Regiment,  named  for  the  Mayor  of  the  city. 
He  did  service  in  West  Virginia  and  at  the  siege 
of  Vicksburg,  being  with  his  regiment  in  field  serv- 
ice. From  the  19th  of  May  to  the  4th  of  July,  1863, 
during  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  his  regiment  lost 
about  half  its  force.  Dr.  Huber  was  with  the  Army 
of  the  Tennessee,  and  was  present  at  the  battles  of 
Missionary  Ridge  and  Lookout  Mountain  under 
Gen.  Sherman.  He  accompanied  the  expedition  to 
the  relief  of  the  troops  at  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  and 
spent  the  winter  at  Larkinsville,  Ala.  He  veteran- 
ized in  March,  1864,  and  returning  from  a  vet- 
eran furlough  joined  Sherman's  army  at  Alabama, 
then  just  starting  on  the  Atlanta  Campaign.  He 
was  in  all  the  battles  of  that  campaign  and  on  the 
memorable  march  to  the  sea.  On  reaching  Sa- 
vannah, the  Surgeon  of  the  regiment  having  re- 
signed, Dr.  Huber  was  appointed  to  that  position. 
His  last  service  was  in  Little  Rock,  Ark.,  and  on 
the  1st  of  September.  1865,  he  was  honorably  dis- 
charged. 

When  the  war  was  over,  Dr.  Huber  returned  to 
his  home  in  DeGraff,  Ohio, where  he  remained  a  year 
and  a-half,  when  he  came  to  Pana,  where  he  has 
since  been  in  active  practice.  For  fourteen  years, 
he  served  as  local  surgeon  for  the  Ohio  &  Mis- 
sissippi Railroad  Company,  and  has  been  a  member 
of  the  Pension  Board  for  twelve  years.  He  is  also 
a  member  of  the  Central  District  Medical  Society 
and  the  American  Medical  Society.  He  is  well 
versed  in  the  science  of  medicine,  keeps  abreast 
with  everything  connected  with  the  profession, 
and  well  deserves  the  high  reputation  which  he 
now  enjoys. 

On  the  23d  of  October,  1867,  in  DeGraff,  Ohio, 
the  Doctor  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Amanda  Harbor,  of  Urbana,  Champaign  County, 
Ohio.  They  lost  two  children  in  infancy  and 
have  now  no  family.  This  worthy  couple, 
throughout  the  community  where  they  are  so 
widely  known,  rank  high  in  social  circles.  The 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


441 


Doctor  is  a  Democrat  in  politics,  has  twice  served 
as  Alderman  of  Pana,  and  in  1890  was  elected 
Mayor.  While  on  the  Council  and  in  the  May- 
or's chair,  his  faithful  performance  of  duty  and  his 
painstaking  service  won  him  the  commendation 
of  all.  The  Doctor  is  secretary  of  the  Electric 
Light  Company,  and  takes  an  active  interest  in 
everything  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  the  com- 
munity. 


,-___ 


f  OHN  D.  HACEENBERG,  who  comes  from 
one  of  the  honored  pioneer  families  of  Chris- 
tian County,  was  born  and  has  passed  his  en. 
tire  life  on  his  father's  old  homestead,  situ- 
ated on  section  13,  May  Township.  He  is  one  of 
the  leading  and  enterprising  young  farmers  of  the 
neighborhood  and  owns  a  beautiful  and  well-equip- 
ped farm,  the  greater  portion  of  which  he  inher- 
ited from  his  father's  estate. 

The  birth  of  Mr.  Hackenberg  occurred  February 
20, 1860.  He  is  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Rachel  (Dorst) 
Hackenberg,  and  is  the  third  in  order  of  birth  in 
their  family  of  four  children.  The  eldest,  Jennie, 
is  now  deceased.  Newton  is  a  well-to-do  stock- 
raiser  in  Lincoln  County,  Kan.  Matie  became  the 
wife  of  Isaac  Mills,  who  is  the  well-known  State's 
Attorney  of  Decatur.  The  father  of  this  fam- 
ily, whose  ancestors  were  natives  of  Germany, 
was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  and  was  still  young 
when  his  parents  removed  with  their  family  to 
Ohio.  He  grew  to  manhood  in  the  Buckeye  State 
and  there  acquired  his  education.  About  the  year 
1855,  he  emigrated  Westward  and  located  on  a  farm 
which  he  purchased  in  May  Township.  To  its  cul- 
tivation he  devoted  the  remainder  of  his  life,  and 
was  one  of  the  respected  early  pioneers  of  this  lo- 
cality. He  was  a  stanch  Republican  after  the  or- 
ganization of  that  party,  but  prior  to  that  time 
was  a  Whig.  He  had  many  warm  friends,  and  his 
death,  which  occurred  at  the  age  of  sixty-two 
years,  was  sincerely  deplored  as  an  irreparable  loss 
to  the  community  in  which  he  lived.  His  wife, 


who  is  also  of  German  extraction,  was  born  in 
Ohio,  and  is  still  living,  making  her  home  with 
her  daughter  in  Decatur,  111. 

John  D.  Hackenberg  in  his  youth  worked  on  his 
father's  farm  and,  intending  to  become  an  agricul- 
turist, devoted  himself  to  acquiring  a  practical 
knowledge  of  the  best  methods  of  carrying  on  a 
farm.  He  acquired  his  education  in  the  common 
schools  of  the  neighborhood,  and  made  his  home 
with  his  parents  until  arriving  at  his  majority. 
Starting  in  life  for  himself,  he  commenced  by  rent- 
ing a  farm,  which  he  operated  until  1884,  when  he 
purchased  a  part  of  the  place  where  he  now  resides. 

On  the  5th  of  February,  1885,  a  marriage  cere- 
mony was  performed  by  which  Miss  Victorine  Sol- 
liday,  of  this  county,  became  the  wife  of  our  sub- 
ject. By  their  union  have  been  born  three  children, 
who  are  called  respectively  Claude,  Merl  and 
Lelah,  and  are  all  living  at  home.  Mrs.  Hacken- 
berg is  a  member  of  the  Reformed  Church,  to 
which  her  husband  contributes,  although  he  is  not 
a  member. 

The  farm  owned  by  our  subject  is  conceded  to 
be  one  of  the  best  in  May  Township,  as  the  land 
is  very  fertile  and  yields  abundant  harvests,  in  ad- 
dition to  which  there  are  many  substantial  im- 
provements on  the  place.  It  is  valuable  for  stock- 
raising  purposes  and  Mr.  Hackenberg  raises  a  great 
many  horses,  cattle  and  sheep.  There  are  three 
hundred  and  fifty-five  acres  within  the  boundaries 
of  his  farm  which  are  under  cultivation,  and  in 
addition  to  this  he  owns  forty  acres  of  timber-land. 
He  is  a  man  of  upright  character  and  is  well  and 
favorably  known  in  this  county,  where  his  life  has 
been  passed. 


ffi^,  J.  RIVARD,  M.  D.,  is  one  of  the  best- 
/(<— :  known  physicians  and  surgeons  of  Assump- 
^y2(  tion,  and  is  a  member  of  the  village  Board 
of  Health.  He  belongs  to  the  American  Medical 
Association,  and  by  study  and  research  makes  it 
his  constant  endeavor  to  keep  fully  abreast  with 


442 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


the  times  in  everything  relating  to  the  theory  and 
practice  of  medicine.  As  a  citizen  he  is  highly 
esteemed,  and  is  always  foremost  in  every  enter- 
prise for  the  benefit  of  the  community.  lie  has 
been  in  successful  practice  here  since  1881. 

The  Doctor  is  a  native  son  of  Illinois,  born  in 
Konkakee  County  November  5,  1859.  His  father, 
Oliver  Rivard,  is  a  native  of  Canada,  and  came  to 
the  United  States  when  a  lad  of  only  ten  years, 
making  the  journey  with  his  brother,  who  is  num- 
bered among  the  pioneers  of  Kankakee  County. 
He  grew  to  manhood  there,  and  upon  reaching  his 
majority  wedded  a  lady  of  French  descent.  She 
was  a  Miss  Philomen  Frazer,  a  daughter  of  August 
Frazer,  who  was  one  of  the  first  to  settle  in  Kan- 
kakee County.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rivard  spent  their 
lives  and  reared  their  family  in  the  same  locality 
in  which  the  former  settled  upon  his  arrival  in 
Illinois.  In  the  fall  of  1892  the  father  met  with 
an  accident  which  cansed  his  death,  being  killed 
by  a  train  while  walking  on  the  railroad.  At  the 
time  of  his  decease  he  was  fifty-nine  years  of  age, 
and  his  loss  was  deeply  felt  in  the  community. 

The  boyhood  days  of  Dr.  Rivard  were  passed  in 
his  native  county,  and  he  was  fortunate  in  being 
given  the  best  of  school  advantages.  Entering 
St.  Viateur's  College,  he  completed  the  classical 
course,  graduating  from  that  institution  at  the 
age  of  eighteen  years.  He  had  given  special  at- 
tention to  the  classics  and  scientific  studies.  Be- 
ing ambitious,  he  concluded  to  adopt  one  of  the 
professions,  and  in  pursuance  of  that  determina- 
tion went  to  Chicago,  and  after  a  three-years 
course  in  the  Chicago  Medical  College  was  grad- 
uated, March  28,  1881.  At  this  time  he  was  just 
past  his  twenty-first  birthday  anniversary,  which 
fact  shows  the  unusual  diligence  and  industry  of 
this  young  student.  Upon  completing  his  colle- 
giate course,  Dr.  Rivard  located  in  Assumption, 
and  began  his  practice.  Necessarily  at  first  he 
met  with  Considerable  discouragement,  as  is  the 
case  with  nearly  every  young  doctor,  but  his 
perseverance  soon  brought  him  many  patients. 
At  the  present  time  he  has  a  large  and  increasing 
practice  and  has  built  up  an  enviable  reputation 
as  one  of  the  successful  physicians  of  Christian 
County.  He  has  used  good  judgment  in  the 


investment  of  his  means,  and  owns  considerable 
local  real  estate.  He  owns  two  good  business 
houses  and  a  valuable  and  well-improved  farm 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  Shelby  Coun- 
ty, besides  several  residences.  He  is  recognized 
as  one  of  the  substantial  and  well-to-do  busi- 
ness men  of  the  community.  He  has  been  a 
stockholder  in  the  Assumption  Coal  and  Mining 
Company,  which  enterprise  he  was  prominent  in 
organizing,  and  also  is  a  member  of  and  Director 
in  the  People's  Building,  Saving  and  Loan  Asso- 
ciation. 

On  October  25,  1882,  the  Doctor  and  Miss  Leah 
M.  Beauchamp  were  wedded.  The  lady  is  a  native 
of  Kankakee  County,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Felix 
Beauchamp,  who  located  there  before  the  now 
flourishing  city  of  Kankakee  was  started.  The 
Doctor  and  his  wife  have  three  children,  namely: 
Rita,  Queena  and  George  J.  The  family  attend 
the  Catholic  Church  of  Assumption  and  are  active 
in  its  work.  Politically,  our  subject  is  a  Republi- 
can, having  supported  that  part}7  with  his  ballot 
and  influence  since  arriving  at  his  majority.  He 
is  not  a  politician,  having  preferred  to  attend  to 
his  professional  duties  and  private  interests,  and. 
though  he  has  been  requested  to  do  so,  has  never 
accepted  any  official  position. 


JAMES  B.  MICHAEL,  a  member  of  the  firm 
of  Michael  Brothers,  dealers  in  hay  and  ex- 
tensive shippers  of  the  same  product,  is  lo- 
cated in  Assumption,  111.     He  has  made  his 
home  here  since  1865,  and  has  long  been  numbered 
among  the  substantial  business  men  of   the  place. 
He  has  been  a   witness  of  its  growth  and    pros- 
perity, in   which  he  has  been  an  important  factor. 
The  birth  of  Mr.  Michael  occurred  near  Zanusville, 
Muskingum  County,  Ohio,  March  23,  1856.     His 
father,    Jacob  Michael,  was    a    native    of    Mary- 
land, and  there  grew   to   manhood.     He  then  re- 
moved to  Ohio,  settling   in  Muskingum  County, 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


443 


where  lie  met  and  wedded  Miss  Mary  Walters, 
whose  birth  occurred  in  that  county.  For  several 
years,  Mr.  Michael  carried  on  a  farm  in  the  Buck- 
eye State,  and  in  1865  proceeded  to  Illinois,  mak- 
ing a  seltlement  in  Shelby  County,  where  he 
bought  a  good  farm.  He  afterward  removed  to 
Iowa,  but  after  a  residence  there  of  some  four 
years  returned  to  this  village  and  led  a  retired 
life  until  his  death,  which  took  place  in  1885. 
His  wife  passed  away  in  1872. 

James  B.  Michael  is  one  of  a  family  of  three 
sons  and  four  daughters,  who  grew  to  mature 
years.  Oue  sister  is  now  deceased.  Our  subject 
was  a  lad  of  only  eight  years  when  with  his  pat- 
ents he  came  to  Illinois,  and  his  youth  was  spent 
in  Shelby  County.  His  educational  advantages 
were  very  good  and  lie  improved  them  with 
commendable  zeal.  He  remained  under  the  pa- 
rental roof  until  eighteen  years  of  age,  when  he 
started  out  to  acquire  his  own  fortune.  As  he 
had  been  brought  up  to  life  on  a  farm,  it  was  nat- 
ural that  he  chose  to  become  an  agriculturist, 
and  his  first  undertaking  in  this  line  was  on  a 
rented  farm  in  Christian  County.  This  he  carried 
on  successfully  for  ten  years,  or  until  1877,  when 
he  went  to  Iowa,  and  bought  a  farm  in  Ringgold 
County.  At  the  expiration  of  four  years  he  re- 
turned to  Christian  County,  which  lias  since  been 
his  place  of  abode.  In  the  year  1884  he  engaged 
in  the  ha}'  business  in  Assumption  and  h.is  built 
up  an  extensive  trade.  The  firm  annually  ships 
about  four  hundred  car-loads  of  this  commodity. 
Mr.  Michael  has  shown  good  executive  ability  in 
the  management  of  his  business  interests  and  has 
made  wise  investments  of  his  profits. 

A  marriage  ceremony  was  performed  June  9, 
1885,  which  united  the  fortunes  of  our  subject 
and  Miss  Celena  Andibert.  Mrs.  Michael  was 
born  in  Christian  County,  111.,  near  the  village  of 
Assumption,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Peter  Andibert, 
one  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  county.  Three 
children  have  blessed  the  union  of  our  subject 
and  his  wife.  In  order  of  birth  they  are  as  fol- 
lows: Ina,  Eva  and  Leila  Lorena.  Mis.  Michael 
is  a  member  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

Our  subject  belongs  to  Hackberry  Camp  No.  251, 
M.  W.  A.  He  has  spent  almost  his  entire  life  in 


this  part  of  Illinois,  where  lie  is  well  known  and 
highly  esteemed.  He  is  a  man  of  upright  charac- 
ter and  sterling  worth.  To  his  well-directed  ef- 
forts and  business  ability  he  owes  the  fact  that  he- 
possesses  to-day  a  comfortable  fortune  and  modern 
home.  In  his  political  faith  he  is  a  Democrat 
and  has  always  cast  his  ballot  in  favor  of  the  nom- 
inees of  that  party. 


RS.  CATHERINE  II.  POPE,  who  resides 
on  a  fine  farm  on  section  6,  Pana  Town- 
ship, was  born  near  Utica,  in  Herkimer 
County,  N.  Y.,  May  7,  1814.  Her  father, 
Henry  Rosencrantz,  was  born  and  reared  in  tiie 
same  county,  and  was  a  son  of  Rev.  Abram  Rosen- 
crantz, a  native  of  Paltz,  Germany.  When  a  young 
man  he  crossed  the  briny  deep  to  New  York,  where 
he  met  and  married  Miss  Anna  Maria,  daughter  of 
Gen.  Herkimer.  He  then  took  up  his  residence  in 
the  township  of  Little  Falls,  and  was  the  first 
preacher  of  Herkimer  County,  the  old  German 
church  being  built  expressly  for  him.  He  was  a 
prominent  and  influential  citizen  and  a  most 
highly-respected  man.  His  death  occurred  at  the 
age  of  seventy  years.  His  eldest  son  became 
a  United  States  Congressman.  The  second  son, 
Henry,  was  a  prominen  I  farmer  of  Herkimer  County. 
Nicholas,  the  next  younger,  was  a  soldier  in  the 
War  of  1812.  Abram  followed  farming  in  the 
same  county.  Joseph,  who  was  a  soldier  of  the 
War  of  1812,  was  also  a  leading  agriculturist. 
The  daughters  of  the  family  were  Margaret,  Katie 
and  Polly. 

Henry  Rosencrantz,  the  father  of  Mrs.  Pope,  was 
a  farmer  by  occupation,  and  in  his  native  county 
married  Patience  Easterbrook.  She  was  born  in 
Rhode  Island,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Abel  Easter- 
brook,  also  a  native  of  Rhode  Island.  His  people 
were  sea-faring  men,  but  he  followed  farming  and 
blacksmitliing.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rosencrantz  began 
their  domestic  life  in  Herkimer  County,  N.  Y.,and 
there  remained  until  1826,  when  they  removed  to 


444 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


St.  Lawrence  County,  locating  on  a  farm,  where 
the  father  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-eight.  The 
mother  died  in  this  county  in  1857,  while  visiting 
her  daughter,  Mrs.  Pope.  She  was  then  in  her  sev- 
enty-ninth year.  Their  family  numbered  seven  sons 
and  four  daughters,  of  whom  seven  grow  to  mature 
years:  Anna  Maria,  who  married  Luther  Davis, 
both  of  whom  died  in  Sangamon  County;  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Talmau;  Mrs.  Henrietta  Sturtevant,  de- 
ceased; Mrs.  Catherine  H.  Pope;  George,  deceased; 
Margaret  and  Patience,  also  deceased;  and  Abram 
Rosencrantz,  who  died  at  the  age  of  fifteen.  The 
other  children  died  in  infancy. 

Mrs.  Pope  spent  her  early  girlhood  days  in  her 
native  county,  and  then  went  with  her  parents  to 
St.  Lawrence  County.  The  common  schools  af- 
forded her  her  educational  privileges.  On  the 
14th  of  January,  1833,  was  celebrated  her  marriage 
with  Abel  Smith  Pope,  who  was  born  in  St.  Law- 
rence County  January  7,  1810,  and  was  the  fourth 
son  of  Timothy  and  Hannah  (Stickney)  Pope. 
His  father  was  a  prominent  citizen  and  large  land- 
owner, and  was  a  a  cloth-dresser,  miller  and  tanner. 

Mr,  and  Mrs.  Pope  began  housekeeping  in  St. 
Lawrence  County,  N.  Y.,  and  he  engaged  in  cloth- 
making,  tanning,  etc.,  in  company  with  his  father. 
After  the  death  of  his  father  he  removed  to  Spen- 
cerville,  Canada,  six  miles  west  of  Prescott,  where 
he  engaged  in  hotel-keeping  for  two  years.  He 
then  went  to  Prescott,  where  he  ran  a  'bus  line 
for  two  years,  after  which  he  returned  to  St.  Law- 
rence County,  N.  Y.,  and  followed  the  same  busi- 
ness in  Ogdensburg,  coming  thence  to  Christian 
County,  111.,  in  1853.  They  were  numbered  among 
the  early  settlers,  and  went  through  all  the  expe- 
riences of  life  on  the  frontier.  In  1868  they  re- 
moved to  the  farm  on  which  Mrs.  Pope  now  re- 
sides, and  he  carried  on  its  cultivation  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  1882.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  tiie  First  Baptist  Church  of  Pana,  and  was 
a  Republican  in  politics.  He  possessed  many  ex- 
cellencies of  character,  was  upright  and  honorable 
in  all  things,  and  had  the  confidence  of  the  entire 
community.  Many  friends  mourned  his  loss. 

Unto  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pope  were  born  the  follow- 
ing children:  Henry  H.,  who  was  born  in  New 
York,  enlisted  in  Company  D,  Thirty-third  Illinois 


Infantry,  served  throughout  the  war,  and  for  mer- 
itorious conduct  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Col- 
onel; Henrietta  M.,  the  next  younger;  Melissa  M. 
and  George,  who  are  both  deceased;  James,  a  trav- 
eling salesman  for  a  Kalamazoo  firm;  Albert,  who 
carries  on  the  home  farm;  and  Sarah  E.,  who  died 
in  infancy.  The  family  have  a  very  pleasant  home, 
situated  in  the  midst  of  a  fine  farm,  comprising 
three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  valuable  land, 
which  yields  to  them  a  good  income.  The  house- 
hold is  the  abode  of  hospitality,  and  its  members 
are  widely  and  favorably  known  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. Mrs.  Pope  is  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church, 
and  is  a  most  estimable  lady. 


EVAN  A.  HUMPHREYS,  JR.,  who  is  engaged 
in  the  practice  of  law  in  Pana,  is  one  of  the 
public-spirited  and  progressive  citizens  of 
this  place  and  manifests  a  commendable  interest 
in  everything  pertaining  to  the  public  welfare. 
The  record  of  his  life  is  as  follows,  and  it  is  witli 
pleasure  that  we  present  it  to  our  readers.  He 
was  born  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  November  20,  1852, 
and  is  a  son  of  Evan  A.  and  Martha  J.  (Skeen) 
Humphreys,  the  former  a  native  of  England,  and 
the  latter  of  Kentucky.  The  paternal  grandfather 
of  our  subject,  also  bore  the  name  of  Evan  A. 
Humphreys,  and  lie  too  was  born  in  England. 
With  his  family  he  left  the  land  of  his  birth  and 
crossed  the  Atlantic  to  America,  landing  in  New 
York.  He  afterward  removed  to  St.  Louis,  where 
he  lived  for  many  years,  and  there  followed  con- 
tracting and  building.  His  .death  occurred  in 
that  city  in  1873,  when  past  the  age  of  eighty 
years.  The  father  of  our  subject  was  one  of  a 
family  of  five  sons  and  three  daughters.  He  ac- 
companied his  parents  to  the  United  States  and  be- 
came a  plasterer  by  trade,  which  business  he  lias 
followed  throughout  the  greater  part  of  his  life. 
He  is  now  living  retired.  Himself  and  wife  are 
worthy  members  of  the  Methodist  Church.  Unto 
them  have  been  born  nine  children,  live  sons  and 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPH'CAL   RECORD. 


445 


four  daughters,  of  whom  four  sons  and  two 
daughters  are  now  living,  namely:  Charles  M.,  Ed- 
ward D.,  Evan  A.,  Andrew  J.,  Ella,  and  Dollie, 
wife  of  Henry  C.  White. 

We  now  take  up  the  personal  history  of  our 
subject,  who  remained  in  his  native  city  until  six 
years  of  age,  when  he  accompanied  his  parents  on 
their  removal  to  Illinois,  the  family  locating  in 
Jonesboro.  From  there  he  went  to  Carbondale, 
and  in  April,  1861,  came  to  Pana,  where  he  has 
since  made  his  home.  The  public  schools  afforded 
him  his  educational  privileges  and  he  is  now  a 
well-informed  man.  Turning  his  attention  to  the 
legal  profession,  he  began  the  study  of  law  in 
1869,  under  A.  C.  McMillan,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  Bar  in  1873,  since  which  time  he  has  been  in 
active  practice. 

On  the  29th  of  December,  1875,  Mr.  Humphreys 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Mrs.  Ann  E.  McMil- 
lan, widow  of  A.  C.  McMillan,  and  a  daughter  of 
Charles  and  Sarah  J.  (Parker)  Barker,  natives  of 
New  York.  Their  union  has  been  graced  with 
one  child,  Arthur.  The  mother  is  a  member  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  and  is  a  lady  of  culture 
and  refinement,  who  ranks  high  in  social  circles. 

Mr.  Humphreys  is  a  member  of  the  Modern 
Woodmen  of  America,  the  Knights  of  Pythias, 
and  the  Fraternal  Mystic  Circle.  For  about  six- 
teen years  he  has  held  the  ottice  of  City  Attorney, 
his  repeated  re-elections  being  a  high  testimonial 
to  his  ability  and  fidelity.  He  has  a  good  home 
and  other  city  property  in  Pana,  where  he  has  now 
lived  for  thirty-two  years.  In  politics,  lie  is  a 
supporter  of  the  Democracy.  In  the  line  of  his 
profession  he  has  met  with  success,  and  his  clients 
are  many. 


JOHN  S.  BILYEU  is  one   of   the  extensive 
land-owners   of    Prairielon   Township,    his 
pleasant   residence  being   situated  on  sec- 
tion 4.     He  lias  long  been  a  resident  of  this 
community,    having  arrived  here  in    1841.     The 
birth  of  our  subject  occurred  in    Miller  County, 


Mo.,  the  date  of  the  event  being  January  1,  1834. 
His  father,  John  H.  Bilyeu,  was  a  native  of  Ken- 
tucky, and  went  to  Tennessee  with  his  father, 
Peter  Bilyeu,  who  was  of  French  descent.  His 
youth  was  passed  in  Tennessee,  and  on  arriving- 
at  a  suitable  age,  he  chose  for  his  wife  Elizabeth 
Workman,  also  a  native  of  Kentucky.  The  young 
couple  removed  to  Illinois,  and,  settling  in  San- 
gamon  County,  located  on  a  farm,  which  Mr. 
Bilyeu  carried  on  for  several  years.  He  then  re- 
moved to  Miller  County,  Mo.,  where  he  staid  for 
only  four  years,  returning  in  1837  to  Sangamon 
County.  A  few  years  later  he  entered  and  bought 
land  on  Flat  Branch,  now  comprised  within  the 
limits  of  Prairieton  Township.  He  opened  up  a 
large  farm  of  over  twelve  hundred  acres,  and  to 
its  cultivation  devoted  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
He  was  called  from  the  shores  of  time  May  15, 
1867,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three  years.  His  wife  is 
still  living,  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine  years.  Mr. 
Bilyeu  was  quite  active  in  local  politics,  and 
many  times  held  offices  of  trust  and  honor. 

The  subject  of  this  sketcli  is  one  of  a  family  of 
nine  sons  and  three  daughters,  who  all  lived  to 
mature  years.  Two  brothers  and  two  of  the  sis- 
ters are  now  deceased.  John  S.  remained  under 
the  parental  roof  until  he  had  reached  his  major- 
ity, after  which  he  settled  on  a  part  of  the  old 
homestead,  the  place  where  he  still  resides.  This 
property  was  then  raw  prairie  land,  and  the  young 
man  with  industry  and  diligence  proceeded  to 
develop  a  farm,  fencing  and  making  many  im- 
provements upon  the  place.  He  started  with  about 
one  hundred  acres,  but  in  a  few  years  was  en- 
abled to  purchase  more  land.  As  the  years  passed, 
the  boundaries  of  his  farm  were  extended  until 
his  homestead  farm  comprises  three  hundred  acres, 
in  addition  to  which  he  owns  four  hundred 
acres.  A  part  of  this  land  is  timber,  and  the  rest 
is  rich  bottomland.  Large  barns  and  convenient 
outbuildings  have  been  erected  on  his  farm, 
and  his  commodious  home  completes  the  pleasant 
picture. 

When  Mr.  Bilyeu  had  just  completed  his  twen- 
tieth year  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Melinda  Workman,  their  marriage  being  cele- 
brated January  22,  1854.  The  lady  is  a  native  of 


446 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Illinois,  and  is  a  daughter  of  Stephen  Workman, 
one  of  the  early  pioneer  of  Christian  County.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Bilyeu  have  had  nine  children.  J.  H.  J. 
is  married  and  is  carrying  on  one  of  his  father's 
farms;  Mary  Ann  is  the  wife  of  David  Workman, 
of  this  county;  Josiah  assists  in  carrying  on  the 
home  farm;  Elizabeth  is  deceased;  Peter  also  lives 
at  home;  Lydia,  Edmund.  Hiram  and  Isaac  com- 
plete the  family.  The  parents  are  members  of  the 
Christian  Church  and  are  valued  workers. 

Thr  first  vote  of  Mr.  Bilyeu  was  deposited  for 
the  Hon.  James  Buchanan  in  1856.  since  which 
time  he  has  ever  supported  the  Democratic  party. 
He  has  never  been  an  aspirant  for  official  honors, 
but  has  found  his  time  fully  taken  up  in  oversee- 
ing his  farms  and  business  projects.  In  the  sev- 
eral walks  of  life  he  bears  a  reputation  for  un- 
blemished honor,  and  his  example  as  a  business 
man  is  worthy  the  emulation  of  the  coming  gener- 
ation. 


eHARLES  VICTORY  ROCKWELL,  M.  D., 
deceased,  was  born  in  Mansfield,  Ohio,  on 
the  4th  of  March,  1833,  and  died  July  29, 
1888,  in  Taylorvillc,  111.,  where  for  many  years  he 
had  successfully  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his 
profession,  winning  a  place  in  the  front  rank 
among  his  brethren  of  the  science.  Throughout 
the  community  he  had  many  friends.  The  first 
eight  years  of  his  life  were  spent  in  his  native 
city,  and  he  then  went  to  Chicago  with  his  parents, 
John  and  Jane  Desire  (Tousley)  Rockwell.  His 
father  was  an  architect  of  Chicago.  His  death 
occurred  in  Decatur,  while  visiting  his  daughter, 
Mrs.  S.  T.  Trowbridge,  now  of  Napa,  Cal.  The 
mother  is  now  living  with  Mrs.  Trowbridge. 

The  Doctor  was  educated  in  the  schools  of  Chi- 
cago, and,  with  the  desire  of  entering  the  medical 
profession,  he  went  to  Decatur,  where  he  began 
reading  along  that  line  under  the  direction  of 
Dr.  Trowbridge,  a  brother-in-law.  He  was  subse- 
quently graduated  from  the  St.  Louis  Medical 


College  in  the  Class  of  '57,  and  at  once  located  in 
Taylorville.  He  had  engaged  in  practice  here  for 
one  year  before  his  graduation  as  a  partner  of  Dr. 
Curtis,  and  after  his  graduation  began  practicing 
alone.  He  was  a  thorough  student  of  his  profes- 
sion, a  man  of  deep  research,  and  his  merit  and 
ability  won  him  a  foremost  place  among  his  pro- 
fessional brethren.  During  the  war  the  Doctor 
spent  some  three  months  in  the  South,  whither 
he  was  sent  by  the  State  to  assist  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  supplies.  He  also  aided  in  hospital  work 
for  a  time.  On  his  return  he  resumed  practice 
and  secured  a  most  liberal  patronage.  For  some 
years  he  was  surgeon  for  the  Wabash  Railroad, 
and  was  an  active  member  of  the  Tri-State  and 
District  Medical  Societies. 

On  the  29th  of  December,  1858,  the  Doctor  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Ellen  Torrey,  of 
Springfield,  111.  She  was  bom  in  that  city  April 
4,  1841,  but  was  married  in  Taylorville,  at  the 
home  of  her  sister,  Mrs.  Albert  Sattley.  By  their 
union  were  born  the  following  children:  Luella, 
wife  of  Rev.  H.  P.  Fullenweider,  a  Presbyterian 
minister  of  Chicago;  Susie  E.,  who  is  employed 
as  a  stenographer  in  the  Remington  Type  Writer 
Office,  of  Chicago;  Gertrude,  at  home;  Estella  L., 
wife  of  Fred  C.  Barnett,  who  was  formerly  a  grain 
dealer  of  Litchfield,  but  is  now  in  business  in  Chi- 
cago; and  Grace  A.  at  home. 

In  connection  with  his  other  business  interests, 
the  Doctor  was  proprietor  of  a  drug  store  in  Tay- 
lorville. In  politics,  he  was  always  a  stalwart  sup- 
porter of  the  Republican  party,  and  whenever  he 
so  desired  gave  expression  to  his  views  on  the  sub- 
ject without  fear  or  favor.  He  was  appointed 
Postmaster  of  Taylorville  by  President  Arthur, 
and  held  that  position  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
although  President  Cleveland  was  then  at  the 
head  of  the  Government.  He  served  as  a  member 
of  the  School  Board,  and  was  Director  of  the  Cem- 
etery Association.  He  owned  some  good  residence 
property  in  Taylorville,  also  an  eighty-acre  fruit 
farm  two  miles  from  the  city.  He  was  a  man  of 
firm  convictions,  and,  though  he  was  undaunted 
in  espousing  his  own  view,  gave  to  others  the 
same  right.  He  was  popular  with  all  classes,  for 
he  had  a  pleasant,  cheery  manner,  and  those  who 


PORTRAIT  AND    BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


447 


knew  him  esteemed  him  highly  for  the  excellen- 
cies of  his  character.  His  death  was  widely 
mourned  throughout  the  community  and  proved 
a  loss  to  the  public  as  well  as  to  his  immediate 
circle  of  relatives  and  friends.  Mrs.  Rockwell 
and  her  family  are  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  in  social  circles  hold  an  enviable  po- 
sition. 


JOSEPH  R.  BUGG,  who  carries  on  a  good 
farm  located  on  section  34,  May  Township, 
comes  from  one  of  the  honored  pioneer 
families  of  Christian  County,  and  was  born 
in  this  township  on  November  30,  1846.  His  en- 
tire life  and  labors  have  been  in  this  county,  and 
he  is  very  well  known  throughout  its  borders. 

Our  subject  is  the  fifth  in  order  of  birth  in  a 
family  of  eight  sons,  whose  parents  were  Joseph 
and  Susanna  (Peck)  Bugg,  who  were  natives  of 
Yorkshire,  England.  The  life  record  of  this  worthy 
couple  may  be  found  in  the  sketch  of  their  son, 
Edward  Bugg,  on  another  page  of  this  work.  Joseph 
remained  with  his  parents,  assisting  in  carrying  on 
the  home  farm,  until  he  had  reached  man's  estate. 
Educational  facilities  during  his  boyhood  were 
of  a  very  limited  description,  and  thus  his  ad- 
vantages in  that  direction  were  extremely  meagre. 
To  the  best  of  his  ability  he  has  endeavored  to 
compensate  for  this  deprivation  in  early  yeais  by 
reading,  study  and  observation. 

When  in  his  twenty-third  year,  Mr.  Bugg  wed- 
ded Miss  Laura  A.  Bradley,  the  date  of  the  event 
being  July  4, 1 868.  Mrs.  Bugg's  parents  were  early 
settlers  of  Christian  County.  The  young  couple 
commenced  housekeeping  on  a  farm  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  which  our  subject  inherited 
from  his  father's  estate,  aud  here  they  have  made 
their  home  continuously.  The  boundaries  of  the 
farm  have  been  extended,  and  at  the  present  time 
our  subject  owns  some  one  hundred  and  sixty-five 
acres,  well  improved  and  cultivated.  The  place  is 
situated  six  miles  southeast  of  Taylorville,  and 
would  bring  a  good  price  if  put  on  the  market. 


Five  children  have  blessed  the  union  of  our 
worthy  subject  and  his  wife.  Emma  is  the  wife  of 
Allen  McKnight,  who  is  a  farmer  of  Clay  County, 
111.;  Luella  E.  is  the  wife  of  Will  Atkinson,  who 
is  engaged  in  farming  in  Christian  County;  Ger- 
trude and  Glenn  are  still  at  home;  and  Jessie  died 
in  infancy.  Mrs.  Bugg  and  her  elder  daughters 
are  members  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church. 

Preferring  rather  to  give  his  entire  energy  and 
time  to  carrying  on  his  farm,  Mr.  Bugg  hassteadily 
refused  to  serve  in  positions  of  trust  and  honor  in 
his  township.  He  deposits  his  ballot  in  favor  of  the 
nominees  and  principles  of  the  Republican  party. 
Though  he  is  not  identified  with  any  church  or- 
ganization, he  is  interested  in  their  prosperity  and 
contributes  to  their  support.  He  is  well  and  favor- 
ably known  in  this  county  as  a  man  whose  word 
is  as  good  as  his  bond,  and  by  his  genial  and 
friendly  manner  he  has  always  made  every  onehia 
friend. 


OOYES  LADD,  one  of  the  early  settlers  and 
representative  farmers  of  Christian  Coun- 
ty, who  now  resides  on  section  23,  Buck- 
hart  Township,  was  born  in  Franklin  Township, 
New  London  County,  Conn.,  on  the  31st  of  March, 
1822.  His  father,  Noyes  Ladd,  Sr.,  and  his  grand- 
father, Darius  Ladd,  were  both  natives  of  the  Nut- 
meg State,  and  the  family  is  of  English  descent. 
The  former  married  Harriet  Williams,  who  was 
born  in  Connecticut,  and  was  a  descendant  of  Elias 
Williams,  a  sea-captain,  a  descendant  of  William 
Williams,  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  and  of  Capt.  W.  Stanton,  who  served 
in  the  Revolutionary  War.  His  father,  Joseph 
Stanton,  was  a  son  of  Thomas  Stanton,  who  ran 
away  from  home  when  a  boy  of  fifteen  years,  took 
passage  on  the  "Mayflower,"  and  came  to  America 
with  the  Pilgrim  Fathers.  Here  he  learned  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Indians  and  became  an  interpreter. 
He  was  considered  a  man  of  prominence  and  influ- 
ence in  the  community  where  he  lived.  Fifty  out 


448 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD 


of  one  hundred  and  one  of  the  colonists  dying 
the  first  winter,  he  left  them  and  went  among  the 
Indians,  Chief  Massasoit  being  the  one  who  taught 
him  to  become  an  interpreter.  He  was  afterward 
the  interpreter  for  the  five  colonies  until  his  death, 
and  he  assisted  Chief  Uncas  in  writing  the  history 
of  their  achievements.  After  leaving  the  Indians 
he  returned  to  his  father,  who  fitted  him  out  with 
a  store  at  Hartford. 

Mr.  Ladd  is  a  third  cousin  to  President  Cleve- 
land. Mrs.  Ladd's  paternal  ancestors  married 
into  the  Hyde  family  of  England,  to  which  family 
Mr.  Cleveland  traces  his  lineage,  and  through  which 
the  Cleveland  family  made  claim  to  Hyde  Park, 
London.  There  is  no  doubt  of  their  inheritance 
centering  there,  but  there  are  missing  links  in  the 
evidence  for  the  claim.  Chauncy  Cleveland,  an 
eminent  lawyer  and  Governor  of  Connecticut, 
made  a  strong  effort,  but  finally  abandoned  it. 

Our  subject  became  first  acquainted  in  Spring- 
field, 111.,  with  Abraham  Lincoln,  he  being  the 
first  man  he  got  acquainted  with  in  that  place. 
Afterward  he  became  the  bosom  friend  of  Lincoln, 
many  times  discussing  the  slavery  question  with 
him  at  Lincoln's  home  until  midnight.  Mr.  Ladd 
has  in  his  possession  a  rare  relic,  in  the  shape  of  a 
picture  of  his  grandfather,  Capt.  Elias  Willis,  a 
painting  over  a  hundred  years  old,  painted  on 
glass,  and  a  picture  of  his  grandmother,  taken 
over  fifty  years  ago.  She  died  in  Charleston,  S.  C., 
of  yellow  fever. 

The  parents  of  our  subject  were  married  in  the 
Nutmeg  State,  and  located  on  a  farm  in  Franklin 
Township,  New  London  County,  where  they  re- 
sided until  1834,  when  they  removed  to  Stoning- 
ton.  Conn.,  where  the  father  died  at  the  age  of 
forty-one.  The  mother  afterward  came  to  Illinois, 
and  departed  this  life  in  the  home  of  our  subject, 
nt  the  age  of  seventy-two.  They  had  been  the 
parents  of  the  following  children:  Noyos,  of 
this  sketch;  Harriet  Z.,  who  died  when  one  year 
old;  William,  who  died  at  the  age  of  sixteen; 
Elizabeth,  widow  of  John  A.  Rolston,  and  a  resi- 
dent of  Springfield,  Mo.,  whose  son  is  W.  C.  Rol- 
ston, Judge  of  Pocahontas  County,  Iowa;  Curtis 
K.,  who  died  at  the  age  of  nineteen;  and  Cyrus  F.,  i 
Darius,  Nathan  and  Elias,  all  of  whom  were  i 


drowned  from  the  steamer  ''Empire,"  on  North 
River,  off  Newburg,  N.  Y.,  while  coming  to  this 
State.  Our  subject,  his  wife  and  three  children 
and  his  mother  were  on  the  same  boat,  but  were 
saved.  In  that  collision,  however,  fifty-four  lives 
were  lost. 

Mr.  Ladd  whose  name  heads  this  record  was 
reared  in  Connecticut,  and  on  the  20th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1843,  married  Phoebe  Williams,  a  native  of 
New  London  County,  that  State.  Seven  children 
were  born  unto  them:  Anna,  now  deceased;  Har- 
riet H.,  wife  of  Samuel  Headen;  William  Slanton, 
who  died  at  the  age  of  sixteen;  Curtis  K.,of  South 
Fork  Township;  John  P.  W.,  also  a  farmer  of  South 
Fork  Township;  Jesse  Y.,  a  farmer  of  Taylorville 
Township;  and  Julia,  who  died  in  infancy.  The 
mother  of  this  family  died,  and  January  30,  1868, 
Mr.  Ladd  married  Eliza  J.  Kennard,  a  native  of 
Mifttin  County,  Pa.,  but  reared  in  Pickaway  Coun- 
ty, Ohio.  Three  children  grace  this  marriage,  Eliza 
Jane,  Emily  Augusta  and  Lillie. 

Our  subject  carried  on  farming  in  Connecticut 
until  1848,  which  year  witnessed  his  arrival  in 
Christian  County.  The  farm  on  which  he  now 
resides  he  entered  from  the  Government.  It  was 
a  raw  tract  of  land,  upon  which  not  a  furrow  had 
been  turned  nor  an  improvement  made.  The  en- 
tire county  was  wild  and  undeveloped.  There 
were  only  nine  voters  in  the  township,  six  miles 
square.  Mr.  Ladd  has  been  prominently  identi- 
fied with  the  development  and  upbuilding  of  the 
community.  He  was  one  of  the  committee  to 
build  the  first  schoolhouse  in  the  township,  and 
was  taxed  for  that  purpose  $1.50.  His  entire  taxes 
were  only  $20.  lie  is  now  the  oldest  resident  of 
the  township,  the  others  who  were  here  at  his  ar- 
rival having  removed  or  been  called  to  the  home 
beyond.  He  devotes  his  energies  untiringly  to 
the  cultivation  of  his  farm,  and  at  one  time  owned 
one  thousand  acres  of  land.  His  possessions  have 
all  been  acquired  through  his  own  efforts  and 
stand  as  monuments  to  his  thrift  and  enterprise. 

Mr.  Ladd  was  a  Whig  in  early  life.  Although 
not  old  enough  to  vote  himself,  he  aided  the  elec- 
tion of  Gen.  Harrison  by  carrying  voters  to  the 
polls.  In  1856  he  supported  Fremont,  and  has 
since  been  a  stalwart  advocate  of  the  Republican 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


449 


party.  He  was  instrumental  in  tiie  convention 
which  nominated  Gov.  Bissell,  the  first  Republican 
Governor  of  Illinois,  and  did  campaign  work  in 
liis  behalf,  making  speeches  throughout  this  part 
of  the  State.  He  has  never  been  an  office-seeker, 
iii  fact  has  steadily  refused  to  hold  office. 

Mr.  Ladd  holds  membership  with  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  The  history  of  pioneer  life  in 
Christian  County  is  certainly  familiar  to  him,  and 
the  county  owes  to  him  a  debt  of  gratitude 
for  the  labors  he  lias  performed  in  its  behalf.  He 
has  done  all  in  his  power  to  aid  in  its  upbuilding 
and  advancement,  and  his  labors  have  not  been 
without  their  result.  As  an  honored  pioneer  and 
valued  citizen  of  the  community,  he 
representation  in  this  volume. 


ETER  L.  MYERS,  a  resident  of  Assump- 
tion, is  one  of  the  honored  old  settlers  of 
the  county,  where  he  has  resided  for  thir- 
ty-two years.  He  has  ever  taken  an  act- 
ive part  in  its  growth  and  has  been  identified  with 
its  welfare.  He  is  a  native  of  Ohio,  born  in  Fair- 
field  County,  December  4,  1828,  and  is  a  son  of 
Henry  F.  Myers,  who  was  a  native  of  the  Key- 
stone State.  The  latter  on  arriving  at  man's  es- 
tate removed  to  Ohio,  settling  in  Fairfield  County, 
in  the  wilderness,  where  he  cleared  and  improved 
a  farm.  He  married  Miss  Sarah  Clare,  whose  birth 
occurred  in  Ohio,  and  whose  father,  Adam  Clare, 
was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Fairfield  County. 
After  a  residence  in  the  Buckeye  State  of  a  num- 
ber of  years,  Henry  F.  Myers  removed  to  Illinois, 
in  1854,  and  passed  the  remaining  years  of  his 
life  in  Tazewell  County.  His  demise  occurred  in 
1860,  and  his  wife,  after  surviving  him  a  few  years, 
passed  away,  in  1872,  and  lies  buried  beside  her 
husband  in  Holland  Grove  Cemetery. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  one  of  a  family  of 
five  sons  and  ten  daughters.     Of  the  number,  thir- 
teen are  still    living.     The    youth    of  Mr.    Myers 
was  passed  in  his  native  county,  and    his   educa- 
23 


tional  privileges  were  of  the  most  limited  descrip- 
tion. In  1854,  he  came  to  Illinois  and  first  located 
in  Tazewell  County,  where  he  bought  land  and 
cleared  a  farm.  For  eight  years  he  devoted  him- 
self to  this  enterprise  and  in  time  found  himself 
possessed  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  which 
he  had  entered  and  developed.  A  portion  of  this 
was  located  in  Christian  County  and  the  remain- 
der in  Shelby  County.  It  was  in  1861  that  he 
removed  to  the  farm  which  he  still  owns  and 
operates.  In  the  year  1865,  he  purchased  a 
farm  in  Assumption  Township,  which  is  now  un- 
der good  cultivation  and  has.  become  a  desirable 
piece  of  property.  At  times  since  1864,  Mr.  My- 
ers has  engaged  in  the  butcher's  business  and  was 
the  first  to  open  a  meat-market  in  Assumption. 
He  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Assumption 
Coal  and  Mining  Company,  of  which  he  was  made 
the  first  President.  This  position  he  held  to  the 
satisfaction  of  all  until  he  saw  fit  to  resign,  in  the 
summer  of  1893. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Myers  was  celebrated  in 
Fairfield  County,  Ohio;  November  5,  1850,  when 
Miss  Mary  M.  Kemmerer  became  his  wife.  Mrs. 
Myers  is  a  sister  of  Philip  B.  Kemmerer,  whose 
sketch  may  be  found  on  another  page  of  this 
work.  Two  children  came  to  bless  this  union,  the 
eldest  of  whom,  Meredith  M.,  is  a  partner  of  his 
father  in  the  meat  business  and  resides  in  Assump- 
tion; the  daughter  is  the  wife  of  Lloyd  B.  Fer- 
rell,and  lives  in  Wichita,  Kan.,  where  Mr.  Ferrell 
is  engaged  in  the  real-estate  business. 

Mr.  Myers  since  the  organization  of  the  Repub- 
lican party  has  been  loyal  to  it.  Recognizing 
his  ability  and  worth,  the  friends  and  neighbors  of 
Mr.  Myers  have  frequently  elected  him  to  hold 
local  official  positions,  and  the  wisdom  of  their 
choice  has  been  always  shown.  He  has  always 
been  a  true  friend  and  upholder  of  our  public- 
school  system,  and  was  one  of  the  prime  movers 
in  securing  the  first  schoolhouse  in  Assumption. 
For  a  number  of  years  he  has  served  as  a  member 
of  the  School  Board,  and  has  given  liberally  of  his 
time,  influence  and  means  for  benevolent  purposes 
and  movements  for  the  general  good.  He  is 
friendly  to  churches  and  has  contributed  to  every 
church  building  in  the  village.  With  his  worthy 


4f>0 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD 


wife,  son  and  daughter,  he  is  a  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  He  has  belonged  to  the 
Masonic  fraternity  for  many  years;  is  a  Master 
Mason  and  has  passed  nearly  all  the  chairs  of  that 
order.  He  is  President  of  the  Fair  Association, 
having  served  as  such  since  its  organization,  and 
having  always  taken  a  leading  part  in  its  success. 
He  is  also  President  of  the  Building  and  Loan 
Association,  and,  in  short,  there  are  few  local 
movements  or  enterprises  with  which  he  has  not 
been  identified. 


EDMUND  B.  BILYEU,  a  farmer  residing  on 
section  21,  Prairielon  Township,  is  one  of 
the  well-to-do  and  enterprising  agricultur- 
ists of  the  community,  and  one  of  the  early  set- 
tlers, his  residence  dating  from  1841.  Numbered 
among  Illinois'  native  sons,  he  was  born  in  Sanga- 
mon  County,  February  15, 1839.  His  father,  John 
H.  Bilyeu.  was  born  and  reared  in  Kentucky.  He 
was  twice  married,  his  second  union  being  with 
Elizabeth  Workime,  a  native  of  Kentucky.  Re- 
moving'to  Illinois,  he  located  in  Sangamon  Coun- 
ty, becoming  one  of  its  first  settlers.  Subsequent- 
ly he  went  to  Miller  County,  Mo.,  but  after  four 
years  spent  in  that  place  ho  came  to  Sangamon 
County,  111.,  once  more,  and  made  it  his  home  un- 
til March,  1841,  when  he  removed  to  Christian 
County.  Here  he  opened  up  a  large  farm  and 
spent  his  remaining  days,  his  death  occurring  in 
May,  1867.  His  wife  still  survives  him,  and  has 
now  reached  the  age  of  eighty  years.  Mr.  Bih'eu 
had  a  family  of  twelve  children,  eight  of  whom 
are  yet  living:  Peter,  a  farmer  of  this  county; 
John  S.,  whose  sketch  appears  elsewhere  in  this 
work;  Sampson  B.,  deceased;  Lydia,  wife  of  Isom 
Adams,  whose  sketch  is  also  given  elsewhere;  Ed- 
mund, of  this  sketch;  Josiah,  deceased;  George 
and  Isaac,  who  are  living  on  the  old  homestead; 
Hiram  C.,  who  is  now  in  the  West;  Sarah  Ann, 
who  died  in  Loekwood,  Mo.,  leaving  four  chil- 
dren; and  David  Bilyeu,  of  Blue  Mound 


The  subject  of  this  sketch  spent  his  youth  in 
this  county,  being  reared  amid  the  wild  scenes  of 
the  frontier.  He  remained  with  his  father  until 
after  he  had  attained  his  majority,  and  then  set- 
tled upon  an  eighty-acre  farm,  where  he  resided 
until  February,  1864.  It  was  a  tract  of  raw  prai- 
rie, but  the  first  season  he  broke  forty  acres  and 
planted  it  in  corn.  He  built  a  little  house,  fenced 
the  entire  farm,  and  in  course  of  time  placed  it  all 
under  cultivation.  He  has  since  purchased  two 
hundred  and  eighty  acres,  and  now  has  about 
three  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  of  which  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  are  in  the  home  farm.  This  is  a 
fine  body  of  land,  under  a  high  state  of  cultiva- 
tion, and  improved  with  all  the  accessories  of  a 
model  farm.  The  owner  has  erected  a  commo- 
dious and  substantial  residence,  good  barns  and 
outbuildings,  and  may  well  feel  a  just  pride  in 
this  valuable  homestead. 

On  Christinas  Day  of  1861,  Mr.  Bilyeu  married 
Miss  Percy  Reed,  a  native  of  Christian  County, 
who  died  July  5,  1889.  There  were  nine  children 
born  of  that  union:  John  H.,  who  is  married  and 
follows  farming  in  this  county;  Lydia  Ann,  wife 
of  Thomas  Barnett;  Edmund,  who  is  married,  and 
follows  farming;  Elizabeth;  Sarah;  Linda,  wife  of 
George  Jacobs;  Peter  C.,  Isom  and  Wilbur  P.  Mr. 
Bilyeu  was  again  married,  September  29,  1891, 
his  second  union  being  with  Mrs.  Nancy  Easley, 
daughter  of  John  Finn.  She  is  a  native  of  this 
State,  and  by  her  former  marriage  has  three  chil- 
dren. The  second  union  has  been  blessed  with 
one  son,  Earl,  who  is  the  joy  and  light  of  the 
household. 

Mr.  Bilyeu  is  a  member  of  the  Christian  Church 
and  his  wife  belongs  to  the  Baptist  Church.  Since 
casting  his  first  vote  for  Stephen  A.  Douglas  in 
1860,  he  has  supported  each  Presidential  nominee 
of  the  Democratic  party,  but  has  never  sought  or 
desired  public  office,  preferring  to  give  his  entire 
time  and  attention  to  his  business  interests.  He 
has  met  with  excellent  success  in  his  undertak- 
ings and  by  his  own  enterprise  and  industry 
has  accumulated  a  handsome  competency,  which 
numbers  him  among  the  well-to-do  fanners  of 
Christian  County.  For  the  period  of  fifty-two 
years,  he  has  made  his  home  in  this  county,  and 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


451 


has  witnessed  almost  its  entire  growth  and  devel- 
opment. He  has  seen  its  wild  land  transformed 
into  beautiful  homes  and  farms,  and  hamlets  have 
become  thriving  towns  during  his  residence  here. 
In  the  work  of  public  improvement  he  has  ever 
borne  his  part,  and  in  the  history  of  his  adopted 
c'.unty  he  well  deserves  mention. 


TEPHEN  WILLEY,  deceased,  was  born  on 
the  7th  of  June,  1827,  in  Hamilton  Coun- 
'  Ohio,  and  came  to  this  county  with 
his  parents  about  1843.  Here  he  grew  to 
manhood.  No  event  of  special  importance  occur- 
red during  his  boyhood  and  youth,  but  after 
arriving  at  years  of  maturity  he  was  married,  on 
the  26th  of  December,  1849,  to  Miss  Nancy  Blunt, 
a  native  of  Tennessee,  born  March  10,  1831.  She 
came  to  this  county  with  her  father  when  quite  a 
small  child,  and  it  has  since  been  her  home. 

Mr.  Willey  began  life  for  himself  a  poor  boy, 
but  he  possessed  an  indomitable  will,  energy, 
courage  and  perseverance,  and  made  the  most  of 
his  opportunities.  Steadily  he  worked  his  way 
upward,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  he  left  a 
valuable  estate  of  seven  hundred  and  twent\r 
acres  of  choice  land.  He  was  a  very  prominent 
farmer  and  stock-dealer,  and  brought  the  first 
herd  of  Shorthorn  cattle  to  this  county,  also  in- 
troduced some  fine  hogs.  Mr.  Willey  was  of 
German  descent,  and  possessed  the  excellent  traits 
of  character  of  that  people.  He  was  progressive 
and  public-spirited,  and  the  community  found  in 
him  one  of  its  valued  citizens,  who  always  gave 
his  support  and  co-operation  to  those  enterprises 
calculated  to  prove  of  public  benefit.  He  took 
quite  an  active  interest  in  political  affairs,  and 
was  a  stanch  supporter  of  the  Republican  party 
and  its  principles.  His  death  occurred  on  the  2d 
of  August,  1870,  and  he  was  laid  to  rest  in  Tay- 
lorvillj  Cemetery.  His  wife  passed  away  July  5, 
1890,  and  was  placed  by  his  side.  She  was  of 
English  and  Irish  extraction. 

Both  of  the  children  of  the  Willey  family  are 
yet  living.  Mary,  the  elder,  was  burn  March  15, 


1851,  in  Christian  County.  She  acquired  a  good 
education,  and  remained  at  home  until  twenty 
years  of  age,  when,  on  the  20th  of  Febiuary, 
1871,  she  became  the  wife  of  William  J.  Ettinger, 
who  was  born  October  17,  1841,  in  Dauphin 
County,  Pa.  He  became  a  harness- dealer  of  Tay- 
lorville,  and  there  carried  on  that  business  for  a 
number  of  years  previous  to  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred May  11,  1882.  He  too  was  buried  in  Tay- 
lorville  Cemetery.  During  the  late  war,  he  vali- 
antly served  for  three  years  and  nine  months  in 
the  Eighteenth  Pennsylvania  Cavalry,  and  took 
part  in  many  important  engagements. 

Mr.  Ettinger  left  three  children.  Hayden,  who 
was  born  July  1,  1873,  is  a  highly-educated  young 
.man,  who  now  aids  his  mother  in  managing  the 
home  farm;  Jessie  was  born  July  10,  1877;  and 
Allen  on  the  6th  of  May,  1881.  Mrs.  Ettinger  is 
still  living  upon  her  farm  of  four  hundred  and 
forty  acres,  which  is  one  of  the  best  in  the  county. 
It  is  improved  with  all  modern  conveniences  and 
accessories,  being  complete  in  all  its  appointments. 
She  also  owns  an  eighty-acre  farm  in  Taylorville 
Township,  and  a  residence  in  the  city  of  Taylor- 
ville, where  she  spends  the  winter  seasons,  while 
in  the  summer  months  she  again  goes  to  the  farm. 
On  her  father's  death,  in  1870,  she  inherited  two 
hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land,  to  which  she  has 
added,  from  time  to  time,  until  she  now  has  five 
hundred  and  twenty  acres.  She  possesses  most 
excellent  business  and  executive  ability,  and  her 
property  has  been  increased  through  her  own  good 
management  and  well-directed  efforts.  She  pos- 
sesses many  excellencies  of  character,  and  is  a 
most  estimable  lady,  whose  friends  throughout  the 
community  are  many.  Her  brother  Anthony  is  a 
progressive  farmer  of  this  county.  The  family  is 
honored  in  the  town  of  Willey,  which  bears  their 
name. 


ZRA  M.  MILLER,  who  resides  in  Assump- 
tion, is  numbered  among  the  honored  early 
pioneers   of    this   part  of  Illinois.     He  lo- 
cated in  Shelby  County,  near  the    present  town  of 


452 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


Assumption,  when  this  region  was  an  undeveloped 
wilderness.  In  many  places  the  grass  grew  as 
high  as  a  man's  head  while  sitting  on  his  horse. 
The  few  settlements  were  widely  scattered,  and  the 
work  of  progress  and  development  seemed  hardly 
begun. 

Mr.  Miller  is  a  native  of  Fail-field  County,  Ohio, 
born  on  the  9th  of  December,  1832.  His  father, 
Christian  Miller,  was  a  native  of  Germany,  and 
when  a  child  came  to  the  New  World  with  his 
parents,  the  family  locating  in  Pennsylvania. 
There  he  grew  to  manhood,  and  when  a  young 
man  went  to  Ohio,  locating  in  Fairfleld  County, 
where  he  was  married.  He  was  a  cooper,  carpen- 
ter and  millwright,  and  followed  all  three  trades 
in  the  Buckeye  State.  In  1842  he  emigrated 
Westward  to  Illinois,  locating  in  Shelby  County, 
where  he  bought  a  tract  of  land  and  opened  up  a 
nice  farm.  There  he  reared  his  family  and  spent  the 
last  years  of  his  life.  He  was  called  to  his  final  rest 
February  24,  1893,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty- 
nine  years  and  four  months.  He  was  twice  mar- 
ried, his  first  wife  dying  in  1837,  and  his  second 
in  February,  1879.  Two  children  were  born  of  the 
former  marriage,  Ezra  M.,  and  James  C.,  now  de- 
ceased, and  by  the  latter  union  there  were  seven 
children. 

We  now  take  up  the  personal  history  of  our 
subject,  who  was  a  lad  of  only  ten  summers  when 
he  came  to  Illinois,  where  Ins  boyhood  and  youth 
were  passed.  He  had  but  limited  school  advant- 
ages in  liis  early  life  and  is  almost  wholly  self- 
educated.  He  remained  with  his  father  until  he 
had  arrived  at  years  of  maturity,  when  he  began 
to  earn  his  own  livelihood  by  hauling  rails.  Af- 
ter one  winter  spent  in  this  way  lie  engaged  in 
trading  in  stock,  and  the  succeeding  year  em- 
barked as  a  dealer  in  hedge  plants.  For  fifteen 
years  his  energies  were  devoted  to  the  raising  and 
setting  out  of  hedge  fences.  He  has  planted  miles 
and  miles  of  hedge  in  Shelby  and  Christian 
Counties.  In  1862  he  turned  his  attention  to 
farming,  and  was  actively  and  successfully  en- 
gaged in  agricultural  pursuits  for  twenty  years. 
He  first  purchased  forty  acres  of  land,  to  which 
he  added  from  time  to  time  until  he  now  owns 
four  hundred  acres  of  valuable  and  well-improved 


land  about  six  miles  east  of  Assumption,  and  also 
another  tract  of  forty  acres  just  east  of  the  cor- 
poration limits.  He  is  also  the  owner  of  a  fine 
residence  property  in  Assumption,  in  which  he  now 
makes  his  home.  lie  is  a  worthy  example  of  a 
self-made  man,  who  commenced  life  for  himself  at 
the  lowest  round  of  fortune's  ladder,  and  has 
steadily  climbed  upward  to  a  position  of  affluence, 
being  now  numbered  among  the  substantial  citi- 
zens of  the  county. 

On  the  8th  of  December,  1849,  in  Shelby  County, 
Mr.  Miller  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Alice 
McSherry,  a  native  of  Indiana,  and  a  daughter  of 
John  W.  McSherry,  who  died  in  the  Hoosier  State. 
Four  children  have  been  born  of  their  union:  Eva 
L.,  wife  of  George  Dickson,  a  merchant  of  Finley. 
III.;  Lillian,  wife  of  Lon  Milligan,  a  railroad  en- 
gineer, residing  in  Amory,  Miss.;  Rose,  wife  of 
W.  L.  Ilinto,  a  merchant  of  Decatur;  and  Maud 
A.,  a  young  lady  at  home.  They  also  lost  three 
sons  and  a  daughter  in  early  childhood.  The  par- 
ents have  given  all  their  daughters  good  educa- 
tions. 

Politically,  Mr.  Miller  has  been  identified  with 
the  Republican  part}'  since  casting  his  first  Presi- 
dential vote  for  Hon.  John  C.  Fremont,  in  1856. 
He  always  votes  the  Republican  ticket  at  State 
and  national  elections,  but  in  local -elections  votes 
independently,  supporting  the  man  whom  he  thinks 
best  qualified  for  the  office,  regardless  of  party 
affiliations.  Mr.  Miller  has  spent  almost  his  en- 
tire life  in  Shelb}7  and  Christian  Counties,  and  is 
well  known  here  and  in  adjoining  counties.  He 
possesses  good  business  ability  and  is  an  excellent 
financier,  hence  his  success  in  life.  He  is  a  man 
of  upright  character  and  sterling  worth,  and  he 
and  his  estimable  wife  have  the  respect  and  esteem 
of  all  who  know  them. 


GEORGE  E.  MAXON.a  resident  of  Morrison- 
ville,  is    one  of  the   large  land-owners    of 
Christian  County,  where  he  has  lived  since 
1878.     In    1881  he  located  in  this  village,  where 
he  has  a  fine  residence  properly.     lie  was   born  in 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


453 


Watertown,  X.  Y..  January  9.  1838,  and  is  the  son 
of  George  W.  and  Julania  (Moore)  Maxon.  The 
father  was  a  fanner  in  the  Empire  State,  and  re- 
moved to  Wisconsin  about  the  year  I860,  locating 
near  Princeton,  where  lie  earned  on  farming.  His 
death  occurred  in  1885.  at  which  time  he  was  sev- 
enty-six years  of  age.  His  father  was  a  native  of 
Scotland,  and  emigrated  to  America  when  very 
young  with  his  father,  who  settled  in  New  York, 
lie  was  a  farmer  and  died  while  still  in  the  prime 
of  life.  He  had  a  family  of  five  sons  and  three 
daughters.  Our  .subject's  mother  died  when  sev- 
enty-four years  of  age,  in  1882,  in  the  faitli  of  the 
Methodist  Church,  to  which  she  had  belonged  for 
many  years.  Her  father,  Verannis  Moore,  was  a 
native  of  New  York  State,  and  lived  to  be  nearly 
four-score  years  of  age.  His  life  was  also  de- 
voted to  agricultural  pursuits. 

George  E.  is  the  youngest  of  four  children,  the 
others  being  Ellen,  wife  of  Warren  Baker,  a  resi- 
dent of  Marcellus,  N.  Y.;  and  Orin  and  Clark, 
both  deceased.  The  early  years  of  our  subject 
were  passed  in  the  Empire  Slate,  and  until  he  was 
seventeen  years  of  age  he  continued  to  live  with 
his  parents  on  the  farm,  receiving  his  early  educa- 
tion in  the  district  schools.  In  1855  he  removed 
to  Chicago,  where  he  entered  the  employ  of  a  firm 
dealing  in  hides,  wool  and  leather.  At  the  end  of 
six  years,  or  in  1861,  he  purchased  the  interest  of 
J.  C.  Coe,  of  the  firm  of  Coe  &  Van  Duyn,  of  Spring- 
field, III.  The  firm  then  became  G.  A.  Van  Duyn 
&  Co.,  Mr.  Maxon  being  the  "Co."  Two  years  later 
the  firm  bought  twelve  hundred  acres  of  land  in 
th is  county,  near  Morrison ville.  Mr.  Maxton'schief 
reason  for  becoming  a  farmer  was  on  account  of 
his  poor  health.  He  still,  however,  retained  his 
interest  in  the  business  in  Springfield  until  1878, 
when  he  made  an  arrangement  by  which  Mr.  Van 
Duyn  became  proprietor  of  his  interest  in  the 
Springfield  concern, and  he  the  exclusive  owner  of 
the  land  in  this  county.  In  1891,  he  sold  the  land 
and  first  located  in  Christian  County,  and  in  the 
same  year,  in  company  with  Messrs  N.  D.  Ricks 
and  William  Provme,  of  Taylorville,  purchased 
tin'  Tuse  interest  in  what  is  known  as  the  Darcv 
tract  of  land,  lying  near  Morrison  ville  and  com- 
prising nearly  six  thousand  acres,  all  of  which  is 


under  cultivation  and  among  the  best  corn  lands 
of  the  State.  Mr.  Maxon  now  devotes  his  time  to 
the  care  of  these  lands  for  the  firm.  In  all  his  life 
our  subject  has  only  made  three  changes  of  loca- 
tion— from  the  East  to  Chicago,  from  Chicago  to 
Springfield,  and  from  Springfield  to  this  county. 

The  marriage  of  Mr.  Maxon  and  Miss  Lina  H. 
Potter  was  celebrated  on  the  10th  of  October,  1862. 
She  is  the  daughter  of  Caleb  M.  and  Harriet  (Part- 
ridge) Potter,  natives  of  the  Empire  State,  and 
residents  of  Skaneateles.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Maxon  are 
the  parents  of  three  children:  Adelbert  P.,  Nina 
II.  and  Howard  L.  The  two  first-named  are  now- 
deceased. 

Fraternally,  Mr.  Maxon  is  a  member  of  the  Ma- 
sonic order,  and  in  politics  is  a  Republican.  In 
1890  he  was  elected  a. member  of  the  Board  of 
Supervisors,  and  has  also  served  for  two  terms  as 
a  member  of  the  Village  Board.  The  one  thousand 
acres  of  land  which  he  owns  in  this  county  are  all 
well  improved  and  very  valuable.  Mrs.  Maxon, 
who  is  a  well-educated  and  most  agreeable  lady,  is 
a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Morrison- 
ville.  The  success  which  our  subject  has  achieved 
is  entirely  due  to  his  own  native  characteristics 
and  business  talent,  as  he  started  out  to  make  his 
fortune  without  possessing  a  dollar  as  capital.  His 
example  as  a  financier  is  well  worthy  the  emula- 
tion of  young  men. 


S.  GARDNER,  Supervisor  of  the  Poor 
i,  and  a  prominent  and  influential  cit- 
izen of  Christian  County,  resides  on  sec- 
tion 3,  Rosemond  Township.  He  was  born  in 
Fayette  County,  111.,  February  5,  1852,  and  is  a 
son  of  Nathan  Gardner,  who  was  born  in  Knox 
County,  Ohio,  August,  10,  1817,  and  was  'reared 
in  middle  Tennessee.  The  grandfather,  Britton 
Gardner,  was  a  native  of  Germany,  and  when  a 
small  boy  came  with  his  parents  to  America.  He 
served  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  The  mother  of 
our  subject  bore  the  maiden  name  of  Frances  T. 
Harrison,  and  was  born  March  2,  1818,  near  Rich- 


454 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


mond,  Va.  When  a  maiden  of  sixteen,  she  went 
to  middle  Tennessee,  and  on  the  1st  of  June. 
1831,  became  the  wife  of  Mr.  Gardner.  In  1840 
they  emigrated  to  Fayette  County,  111.,  and  in 
1856  came  to  Christian  County.  Here  the  father 
died  in  1893,  but  the  mother  is  still  living,  and 
throughout  the  county  is  known  as  "Aunt  Fan- 
nie." 

The  Gardner  family  numbered  eleven  children, 
seven  sons  and  four  daughters,  of  whom  seven 
grew  to  mature  years.  Our  subject  is  the  sixth  in 
order  of  birth.  He  was  a  lad  of  four  summers 
when  he  came  with  his  parents  to  this  county,  and 
the  first  school  he  attended  was  taught  by  the 
present  County  Superintendent  of  Schools,  Prof. 
R.  W.  Orr.  After  attending  the  district  schools, 
he  became  a  student  in  the  High  School  of  Taylor- 
vilic.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  began  teaching, 
and  in  1862  he  attended  the  State  Normal  School, 
of  Normal,  111.,  to  fit  himself  for  becoming  a  pro- 
fessor, but  on  account  of  ill  health  he  was  forced 
to  abandon  this  plan.  He  then  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  the  carpenter's  trade,  which  he  followed 
for  some  time. 

Mr.  Gardner  was  married  in  this  State  on  the 
31st  of  January,  1883,  to  Miss  Hettie  Little,  daugh- 
ter of  James  and  Eliza  (Seaton)  Little,  and  a  na- 
tive of  Fayette  County.  Her  father  was  a  native 
of  Tennessee,  and  was  of  Scotch-Irish  descent. 
He  became  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Fayette 
County,  and  there  took  up  land  from  the  Govern- 
ment. Mrs.  Gardner  is  the  fifth  in  order 'of  birth 
in  a  family  of  seven  children.  Her  mother  died 
when  she  was  eight  years  of  age,  after  which  her 
father  married  Frances  Beck,  and  they  became  the 
parents  of  five  children,  four  sons  and  a  daughter. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gardner  began  their  domestic  life 
upon  a  farm.  Subsequently  they  removed  toTay- 
lorville  Township,  where  they  spent  six  years,  and 
in  1890  our  subject  assumed  the  management  of 
the  Poor  Farm,  of  which  he  still  has  charge. 
Their  home  has  been  blessed  with  a  little  daughter, 
Emma  Ethel,  who  was  born  on  the  3d  of  Septem- 
ber, 1885. 

In  his  political  affiliations,  Mr.  Gardner  is  a 
Democrat.  Socially,  he  is  a  member  of  the  Ma- 
sonic fraternity  of  Edinburgh,  and  also  of  the 


Anti-Horse  Thief  Association.  He  likewise  holds 
membership  with  the  Baptist  Church.  He  is  giv- 
ing excellent  satisfaction  as  manager  of  the  Pool- 
Farm,  for  he  is  a  man  of  sterling  worth,  true  to 
every  trust  reposed  in  him.  A  well-spent  life  has 
won  for  him  universal  confidence  and  esteem,  and 
gained  for  him  the  high  regard  of  all. 


|X  ORICE  DWIGIIT  SHUMWAY,  of  Taylor- 

I  )  ville,  is  a  native  of  Christian  County, and 
Q/y  was  born  on  a  farm  about  four  miles  east 
of  the  city  December  19,  1845.  He  is  the 
second  son  and  third  child  of  D.  I),  and  Emily  R. 
A.  (Rountree)  Shumway,  of  whom  extended  men- 
tion is  made  in  another  part  of  this  work. 

Mr.  Shumway  spent  the  first  few  years  of  his 
life  on  the  farm  where  he  was  born,  and  his  edu- 
cation began  in  the  country  school.  After  the 
family  removed  to  Taylorville  he  attended  school 
for  a  short  time  in  this  place,  and  spent  two  years 
at  an  academy  in  Hillsboro.  In  the  spring  of 
1857,  he  entered  the  employ  of  W.  W.  Anderson, 
as  clerk  in  a  general  store,  and  served  until  the 
fall  of  1860,  during  which  time  he  was  also  Dep- 
uty Postmaster  of  Taylorville.  In  the  winter  of 
1860-61  he  attended  the  Normal  School  at  Nor- 
mal, Hi.,  when  failing  health  caused  him  to  aban- 
don his  studies  and  return  to  Taylorville.  The 
following  winter  he  taught  a  country  school,  after 
which  he  spent  a  few  years  working  on  his  father's 
farm  and  attending  the  public  school. 

In  1866  he  practicalh'  commenced  his  business 
career  on  his  own  account,  when  he  went  to  Hills- 
boro and  engaged  in  merchandizing  in  partner- 
ship with  his  uncle,  A.  A.  H.  Rountree.  This  con- 
nection continued. until  January  1,  1869,  when  he 
sold  his  interest  to  his  partner. 

Returning  to  Taylorville,  he  became  a  member 
of  the  firm  of  Shumway  <fe  Sons  in  a  general  store. 
The  death  of  his  father,  which  occurred  in  the 
spring  of  1870,  necessitated  the  closing  out  of  this 
business.  During  the  summer  of  1870  Mr.  Shum- 
way  and  his  brother,  II.  P.  Shumway,  compiled  a 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. 


455 


set  of  abstract  books  of  Christian  County,  which 
were  the  first  ever  made,  and  are  now  in  use  by 
the  Christian  County  Loan  &  Abstract  Company. 
In  1871  Mr.  Shuinway  associated  himself  wilh 
W.  W.  Anderson  in  the  banking  business,  under 
the  firm  name  of  W.  W.  Anderson  &  Co.,  and  in 
1874  they  opened  a  branch  house  at  Pana,  under 
the  name  of  Anderson  &  Shumway,  which  a  year 
later  they  transferred  to  Messrs.  Hay  ward  &  Sch  uy- 
ler,  of  that  place. 

On  returning  to  Taylorville,  he  again  assumed 
the  management  of  the  banking  business  here, 
and  continued  in  charge  until  1882.  Subsequently 
he  opened  a  grocer}'  store  in  Taylorville,  and  did 
business  in  that  line  until  1889. 

On  the  organization  of  the  Taylorville  Coal 
Company,  in  1887,  Mr.  Shumway  became  one  of 
the  stockholders  and  was  made  its  Secretary,  which 
position  he  has  held  continuously  since.  In  Feb- 
ruary, 1890,  he  was  made  general  manager  of  the 
Coal  Company,  and  holds  that  position  at  this 
writing.  This  is  the  most  important  industry  of 
the  city.  It  gives  employment  to  about  two  hun- 
dred men  all  the  year  round,  and  under  Mr. 
Shu m way's  able  management  yields  satisfactory 
results  to  the  stockholders. 

Our  subject  is  also  President  of,  and  the  largest 
stockholder  in,  the  Christian  County  Implement 
Company,  a  stockholder  and  Director  in  the  First 
National  Bank  of  Taylorville,  a  stockholder  and 
Director  in  the  Citizens'  Gas,  Fuel  and  Light 
Company,  and  in  the  Taylorville  Electric  Light 
Company.  He  has  served  the  city  for  two  terms 
in  the  Council,  and  was  Chairman  of  the  Board  of 
Waterworks,  and  made  the  contract  with  George 
C.  Morgan,  of  Chicago,  for  the  construction  of  the 
present  efficient  system  of  waterworks  now  in  use 
in  this  city. 

Mr.  Shumway  is  an  enterprising  and  energetic 
business  man,  who  is  always  alive  to  the  bust  in- 
terests of  the  city  and  county.  In  his  many  and 
varied  business  ventures  he  has  achieved  a  well- 
earned  success. 

On  the  25th  of  September,  1877,  at  Salem,  111., 
Mr.  Shumway  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  I.  Fin  ley, 
daughter  and  only  child  of  Dr.  W.  M.  and  Lucy 
(Watson)  Fin  ley,  of  that  place.  She  was  born  in 


White  County,  111.,  and  comes  of  one  of  the  pio- 
nee'r  families  of  southern  Illinois.  The  family 
born  of  this  union  is  three  sons,  Glenn  Finley, 
Ilnam  McLin  and  Doiice  Dwight.  Mrs.  Shum- 
way is  a  member  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church,  in  which  she  was  reared,  and  she  and  her 
husband  stand  high  m  social  circles  in  the  city  in 
which  the}'  live. 


JC.  McQUIGG,  who  is  engaged  in  the  prac- 
tice of  law  in  Pana,  has  for  a  number  of 
years  been  a  leading  member  of  the  legal 
profession  in  Christian  County.     He  claims 
Ohio  as  the  State  of  his  nativity,  his  birth  having 
occurred  in  Wayne  County,  August  1,  1840.     His 
parents,   John    and    Sarah  McQiiigg,  were  natives 
of  County  Antrim,  Ireland.     In  1838  they  crossed 
the  briny  deep  to  the  New  World  and  located  in 
Wayne  County,  Ohio. 

In  the  family  of  nine  children,  all  of  whom 
have  reached  mature  years  and  are  still  living, 
our  subject  was  the  sixth  in  order  of  birth.  No 
event  of  special  importance  occurred  during  his 
youth,  which  was  quietly  passed  upon  his  father's 
farm.  During  the  winter  months  he  attended  the 
common  schools,  and  in  the  summer  aided  in  the 
labors  of  the  field.  He  also  attended  the  People's 
College,  an  excellent  school,  in  which  he  made 
rapid  advancement,  becoming  proficient  in  the 
higher  branches  of  mathematics,  and  also  making 
considerable  progress  in  Latin  and  other  lan- 
guages. At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  became  a  stu- 
dent in  Fredericksburg  A<;adem3',  of  Wayne  Coun- 
ty, where  he  remained  until  the  breaking  out  of 
the  war. 

When  Ft.  Su inter  was  fired  upon,  and  it  was 
seen  that  the  South  really  meant  to  take  up  arms 
against  the  Government,  Mr.  McQuigg  responded 
to  the  first  call  for  troops,  for  he  had  watched  the 
progress  of  events  and  had  resolved  if  war  came 
he  would  strike  a  blow  for  the  Union.  He  joined 
the  boys  in  blue  of  Company  A,  Fourth  Ohio  In- 


156 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


fan  try,  and  the  regiment  was  ordered  to  West 
Virginia.  After  the  expiration  of  his  three-months 
term,  he  returned  home,  and  on  the  16th  of  August, 
1861,  enlisted  as  a  private  of  Company  G,  Six- 
teenth Ohio  Regiment,  for  three  years.  He  was  in 
all  the  engagements  of  his  command  until  May, 
1863,  when  lie  was  wounded  in  one  of  the  assaults 
on  the  works  before  Vicksburg.  Being  thus  dis- 
abJed  for  further  service,  he  was  honorably  dis- 
charged. 

Mr.  McQuigg  at  once  returned  to  his  home  in 
Ohio,  :nid  the  same  year  entered  Vermilion  Col- 
lege, at  Hajsvillo,  Ohio,  where  he  remained  until 
the  autumn  of  1865,  pursuing  a  classical  course; 
he  also  took  a  course  in  French,  but.  did  not 
complete  Greek,  and  on  that  account  did  not 
graduate.  His  law  studies  were  carried  on  in  the 
law  department  of  the  Michigan  University,  at 
Ann  Arbor,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in  the 
spring  of  1867,  with  the  degree  of  B.  L.  On  the 
8th  of  May  following,  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  he  was 
admitted  to  the  Bar,  and,  thinking  the  West  would 
prove  a  good  field  of  labor  for  an  ambitious  and 
enterprising  young  man,  lie  took  up  his  residence 
in  Pana,  where  for  six  months  he  practiced  as  a 
partner  of  A.  C.  McMillan,  since  which  time  he 
has  been  alone. 

Mr.  McQuigg  has  been  married  three  times. 
His  first  marriage  was  to  Miss  Marian  Patton.  of 
Pana,  June  8,  1869,  at  the  home  of  her  mother, 
Martha  Pattou,  her  father,  William  R.  Patton,  a 
railroad  contractor,  having  died  while  she  was  a 
child.  She  was  born  at  Allegheny,  Pa.,  and  died 
January  22,  1883.  She  was  a  woman  of  fine  en- 
dowments, well  educated,  and  highly  respected  by 
all  who  knew  her.  Two  children  graced  this  mar- 
riage, M.  W.  and  Florence  M.  They  are  very 
popular  and  have  many  admiring  friends.  His 
second  marriage  was  to  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Amberson, 
of  Allegheny,  Pa.,  February  10,  1885,  a  lady  very 
highly  accomplished  and  greatly  esteemed  by  her 
numerous  friends  and  acquaintances.  Her  maiden 
name  was  McKenney.  She  died  April  12,  1887. 
William  McKenney,  her  father,  and  Margaret,  her 
mother,  are  still  living,  He  is  engaged  in  the 
iron  industries  of  Pittsburgh.  She  had  one  daugh- 
ter, Maggie,  by  her  former  marriage.  She  is  a  ! 


young  lady  of  rare  accomplishments  and  an  ex- 
pert performer  on  the  piano.  She  makes  her  home 
with  Mr.  McQuigg.  Maggie  and  Florence  are 
graduates  of  a  female  academy.  They  are  among 
the  leading  belles  of  Pana.  Mr. McQuigg  married 
his  present  wife,  Miss  Sadie  McKenney,  at  Alle- 
gheny, Pa.,  September  15,  1892.  She  is  a  sister  of 
his  former  wife,  and  a  lady  of  rare  domestic  vir- 
tues. She  makes  her  home  a  model  one,  and  all 
beneath  her  roof  admire  and  love  her.  She  is  ac- 
complished and  refined  in  her  every  act  and  deed. 
As  a  lawyer,  our  subject  has  won  an  enviable 
reputation,  which  is  well  merited,  by  the  skill  and 
ability  which  he  manifests  in  the  prosecution  of 
his  chosen  profession.  He  exercises  his  right  of 
franchise  in  support  of  the  Republican  party  and 
is  a  warm  advocate  of  its  principles.  He  takes 
quite  an  active  part  in  local  politics,  and  in  1876 
was  candidate  for  State's  Attorney.  Although  the 
county  at  this  election  was  Democratic  by  nine 
hundred  majorit}-,  owing  to  his  popularity  and 
ability  he  was  beaten  by  only  eighty-three  votes. 
In  public  a-nd  private  life,  Mr.  McQuigg  has  been 
true  to  all  that  goes  to  make  up  an  admirable 
character,  and  the  high  regard  of  many  friends  is 
freely  given  him. 


VINCENT  E.  FOY,  County  Judge  of  Chris- 
tian Count}-,  111.,  was  born  in  Tuscarawas 
County,  Ohio,  October  31,  1845.  His  fa- 
ther, Archibald  Grennleaf  Fo}'.  was  a  farmer,  a 
native  of  Belmont  County,  Ohio,  of  Irish  parent- 
age. His  mother,  Emeline  Brisben,  was  born  in 
the  same  county  as  the  son;  her  parents  were  of 
Scotch-Irish  descent,  and  natives  of  Pennsylvania. 
Archibald  Foy  and  wife  were  the  parents  of  ten 
children,  nine  of  whom  grew  to  maturity,  and  all 
of  these  except  one  are  now  living.  They  con- 
sisted of  six  sons  and  four  daughters,  one  of  the 
latter  dying  in  infancy.  The  fourth  child  and 
eldest  son  is  he  whose  name  heads  this  article.  In 
1865,  the  family  moved  to  Christian  County,  and 


PORTRAIT  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL   RECORD. 


457 


sixteen  years  later  to  Sumner  County,  Kan.,  where 
the  mother  and  one  daughter  died  in  1891. 

The  youth  of  Judge  Foy  was  passed  on  his  fa- 
ther's farm,  and  his  education  was  supplied  by  the 
common  schools,  except  one  term  at  the  Graded 
School  of  Uhrichsville,  Ohio.  He  left  the  home 
farm  at  seventeen  years  of  age,  and  in  the  spring 
of  1864  he  enlisted  in  Company  P:,  One  Hundred 
and  Sixty-first  Ohio  Infantry,  being  mustered  in 
May  2,  1864,  at  Camp  Chase.  He  served  at  dif- 
ferent points  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  and  was 
mustered  out  at  Camp  Chase  September  2,  1864. 
In  March,  1865,  he  came  to  Christian  County,  and 
was  variously  employed  as  stage-driver,  farm  la- 
borer and  school  teacher.  In  1868  he  borrowed 
some  books  from  J.  B.  Jones,  a  lawyer  of  Taylor- 
ville,  now  of  Little  Rock,  Ark.,  and  began  the 
study  of  law.  This  he  pursued  in  his  leisure  mo- 
ments until  1871,  when  he  entered  Mr.  Jones'  of- 
fice, and  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1874.  He 
practiced  in  partnership  with  his  preceptor  for 
one  year,  and  afterward  alone  until  1891,  when 
he  took  a  partner  in  the  person  of  Mr.  Grafton, 
the  firm  being  Foy  &  Grafton. 

He  was  for  over  eleven  years  Treasurer  of  Tay- 
lorville  Township,  and  one  year  City  Attorney 
In  1876  he  was  elected  State's  Attorney,  and  in 
1882  County  Judge,  which  position  he  has  filled 
continuously  since,  being  twice  re-elected.  For 


four  years  he  was  editor  and  proprietor  of  the 
Ta.ylorville  DEMOCRAT,  bringing  up  the  circulation 
of  that  journal  from  three  hundred  and  fifty  to  six- 
teen hundred.  He  is  a  persevering  and  painstak- 
ing worker,  and  his  ability  is  evinced  by  the  fact 
that  none  of  his  decisions  have  ever  been  reversed 
either  by  Circuit,  Appellate  or  Supreme  Courts. 

As  a  private  citizen,  Judge  Foy  is  active  in  fos- 
tering any  enterprise  calculated  to  develop  and 
benefit  his  home  city.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Taylorville  Coal  Company  from  its  organization 
to  1891,  and  is  a  stockholder  and  Director  of  the 
hotel  company  which  built  the  Antlers  Hotel. 
He  is  a  man  of  strong  personality  and  fine  pres- 
ence, and  bears  the  stamp  of  a  born  leader.  He  is 
a  pleasant  and  approachable  gentleman,  wholly 
destitute  of  pedantry  or  ostentation.  His  heart 
reaches  out  to  all  mankind,  and  he  classes  himself 
as  a  member  of  the  "great  human  family."  The 
only  organization  with  which  he  is  connected  is 
the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 

On  the  30th  of  November,  1877,  he  was  married 
to  Miss  Anna  Michels,  a  native  of  Macon  County, 
111.,  of  German  parentage,  whocame  with  her  fam- 
ily to  Christian  County  when  a  child.  She  is  a 
woman  of  great  intellectual  force  and  sagacity, 
and  the  Judge  attributes  much  of  his  success  in 
business  and  public  life  to  her  wise  counsels  and 
extended  influence. 


Buchanan.  James  

.  ...  75 

DeBarr,  Adolphus  

.  .  .245 

Gray,R.A  

...275 

Bugg.  Edward  

.  .  ..254 

De  Camp,  Capt.  Dan.  

..  ..242 

Greb.  Charles  

...209 

A 

Bugg.J.  R  

...447 

Dickerson,  J.  H  

...317 

Greenwood,  Dr.  B  

...365 

Bugg,  William  

438 

Dodge,  J.  H..M.D  

...420 

Grimes,  William  

.  .  .355 

Burchfleld,  David  

...235 

Dodge.P.L  

.  .  .329 

Gudehus,  William  

...425 

Butler.  A.  C  

.  .  .345 

Drennan  F  P 

.321 

Adams,  Isom  

387 

Butts,  G.C  

...417 

Drennan.J.G  

...314 

Adams,  John  

23 

Drennan  ,  Hon  .  J.  L  

330 

Adams,  John  Q  

39 

Duncan,  Joseph  

...131 

H 

Adams,  Hon.  Joseph... 

335 

Adelhart.J.  G  

204 

C 

Ainsworth.  Samuel  

202 

Alderson,  Anthony  

389 

L 

Hackenberg,  J.  D.*  

441 

Itgeld,  John  P  

187 

Hailey.B.H  

..325 

Iverson.E.  M.,M.  D... 

379 

Carhn,  Thomas  

...135 

Hainefe,  Fletcher  

..301 

nderson,  H.  R  
nders"n.  J.  R  
nderson,  J.  T  

3B9 
383 
293 

Carper.B.F  
Carter,  Joseph  
Cazalet,  August  

...318 
....257 

Eberle,  J.  K.,  M.  D  
Edwards,  Ninian  
Elliott  C  F 

..372 
..119 

Haines.W.C  
Ham;  Prof.  L.  S  
Hamilton,  John  M  

.  .393 
..399 
.  .  179 

nderson,  Samuel  

3C5 

Chalfant.N.  B  

.  .  .378 

Elliott,  T.  J  

2 

Hammer,  A.  F.,  M.  D  

..250 

nderson,  W.  W  

199 

Chapman,  A.  B  

..  .412 

Emerson  J  N 

370 

Hankins.G.B  

.  .1142 

rmitage,  George  

340 

Cheney,  Harry  

...217' 

Emerson,  R.  N  

.  .  "05 

Hanoti,  Jesse  

..288 

rmstrong,  William... 

407 

Clarke,  Rev.  E.  W  

...371 

Ewing,  VV.  L.  D  

..  .127 

Hargraves,  B.  H  

..304 

rlhur,  Chester  A  

...  99 

Cleveland,  S.  Grover  

...10:1 

Harp,  W.  H  

.436 

ustin,  A.  A  

432 

Coffman,  W.D  

.  .  .2)8 

Harris,  Edwin  

Cohenour,  W.  L  

...  344 

Harrison,  Benjamin  

..107 

Coleman,  J.  M  

...384 

F 

Harrison,  William  Henry 

..   51 

Coles,  Edward  

115 

Hawkes.O.M  

..319 

B 

Cornell,  D.  K.,  M.  D  

356 

Hayes,  J.  H  

..201 

Corzine,  Allen  

265 

Hayes,  Rutherford  B  

..  91 

Corzine,  Warren  

...372 

Fifer.J.  W  

...183 

Hayward.J.S  

..38S 

Council,  A.  M  

..232 

Filhnore,  Millard  

..  «7 

Hayward.W.  E  

..208 

Bailey,  W.  W  

....359 

Cowgill,  Capt.  Allrea  

...429 

Ford,  Thomas  

.139 

Hedges,  John  

.423 

Barnes,  A.  G  

....308 

Creighton,  J.  C  

..431 

Foy.V.  E  

..456 

Hedrick,  L.  R  

.  .:;HO 

Bauer,  J.  T  

276 

Cullom,  Shelby  M  

...175 

Fraley,  J.  S.  

..434 

Hewitt.A  M  

..M 

Bauer,  Weert  

.  .  .  .290 

Culp.S.  W  

...•211 

French,  Augustus  C  

..143 

Hill.C.H  

.  .  12S 

Beaman,  W.  R  

....231 

Curran.M.  J  

..291 

Fringer,  Dr.  George  

...377 

Hogan,  Capt.  J.  E  

.343 

Berry,  Mrs.  Isabel  

....219 

Cutler,  C.  D  

..395 

Frink,  Judge  W.  S  

..229 

Hollier,  C.  C  

..426 

Beveridge.John  L  

171 

Hoover,  Leonard  

.4:17 

Beyers,  John  

.  .  ..322 

Housley.O.Z  

.269 

Biyeu.J.S  

.  .  .  .445 

Huber,  Jacob,  M.  D  

..Ull 

Bilyeu,  E.  B  

....450 

D 

Hufman.J.L  

.385 

Blssell,  William  H  

151 

Humphreys,  E.  A.,  Jr  

.444 

Bohn,  H.  C  

....236 

Hutchms,  Moses  

.:;GI; 

Bellinger,  Ephraim  

256 

Gardner,  H.  T  

.244 

Hutchinson,  George  

.381 

Bond,  Shadrach  

....111 

Dappert,  John  

..306 

Gardner.L.S  

..453 

Boyd,  J.  A  

....295 

Davis,  Dial  

..234 

Garfleld,  James  A  

95 

Boyd  J  H 

300 

Davis  E    H 

311 

I 

Bradley,  Thomas  

...259 

Davis,  W.B  

..213- 

Goodrich,  W.  A  

..327 

Brentz,  M.  C  

.272 

Dawdy  ,  J.  H  

...401 

Gore,  John 

2-'0 

Brisben,  Andrew  
Brown,  Samuel  

...402 
...313 

Dawson,  Joseph  
Deal,  George  

..350 
..211 

Gore,  W.F  
Grant,  Ulysses  S  

.230 
.  87 

leou,  W.  L.  .  .  . 

214 

INDEX. 


...421 

McCoskill,  Judge  A  
McQuigg,.T.C  

.  .  .271 
...455 

Price,  J.  W  
Provine.W.M  

...348 
....324 

Temple,  R.  B  
Teppe,  Rev.  Aloysius  

...303 
...-.'11 

Jacobs,  Mrs.  Melinda  
Jackson,  Andrew  
Jelterson.  Thonr.as  
Johnson,  Andrew  
Johnson  Brothers  
Johnson,  Richard  
Johnston,  J.H  

.409 
..  43 
..  27 
..  83 
..2B7 
..221 
..247 

Michael,  J.  B  
Michaels,  A.T  
Michels,  Peter  
Miller.E.A  
Miller,  E.  M  
Miller,  J.F.,  M.D  
Milligan,  Samuel  
Monroe,  James  
Moore.  D.  M  

.  .  .4<2 

...382 
...284 
...224 
.  .  .451 
...287 
...337 
...35 
...2B8 

R 

Rayhill,  Cyrus  
Raylnll.  John  
Reading,  Col.  W.  M  

...357 
...SIX) 
...433 

Travis,  Byron  
Turner,  J.  L  
Tyler,  John  

V 

..415 
...255 

K 

Morgan,  G.  W  
Morgan,  William  

...307 
...418 

Reynolds,  John  

...123 

Valentine.  G.  R  

.  .  .210 

Morrison,  O.  F  
Morrison.  W.  E  
Mundher,ke,_  August  

.  .  .226 
.  .  .Sol 
.  .436 

Richards,  C.  G  
Ricks.J.B  
Ridge,  David  

...311 
.  .  .320 
.  .  .203 

Van  Buren,  Martin  
Vanderbelt,  J.  R  
Vidler,  John  

...237 

Kemmerer,  P.  B  
Kester,  J.  K  

..427 
..274 

Ridge,  James  
Rivard,G.J.,M.D  
Rockwell,  C.V.  ,  M.D  

...441 
...44B 

W 

Kinney,  A.T  
Kirk,  Henry  

..279 

N 

Rollins,  J.O  
Ross,  George  

....206 
.  .  .32B 

Kitchell,  J.  W  
Knott,  William  

..306 
..419 

Waddell.J.N  
Waddington,  J.  B  

.  .  .278 

Neel,  S.  M  

....283 

S 

Walker.  J.  P  

...354 

«               L  • 

Nelms.J.  N..M.D  

...3?0 

Walton,  George,  M.D...  . 
Ward,  I.  N  

.,.351 
.  .,.215 

Nicodemus,  J.  W  

...250 

Salliday.J.H  

...290 

Warren,  Nelson  

.  ...400 

Lacharite,  David  
Ladd.Noyes  
Langen,  VVilliam  
Lantz,  B.  F  
Large,  Richard  
Lawler,  H.  C  

..424 

.  .323 
..392 
..411 
..212 

0 

Oats,  Michael 

Sanders,  JY4,  
Sattley,  Albert  
Schrantz,  Lee  
Schrantz.  Sylvester  
Seaton.W.E  
•  ghafer.J.C  

.  ..336 
....292 
....26!) 
...282 
.  ..247 
.  .  .394 

Watt,  Robert  
Weedon,  Rev.  W.  W  
Weiser,John  
Wenzler,  Christian  
Wheeler,  Fred  
Whitecraft,  J.  A  

.  .  .362 
.  ..338 
.  .  .239 
.  .  .858 
...274 
.  .  .225 

Leigh,  E.  T  

..376 

Ojrlesby,  Richard  J  
Orr.  R.  W  

...IBS 
...2SI 

Sibley.C.  W  

...243 

Wilkinson  .  Reuben  

...246 

Lienhart.  George  
Lincoln,  Abraham  
Long.F.M  
Long.W.  L  

..370 
..  7!) 
.  ..302 
..251 

Owen,  B.  F.,M.  D  
Owen.O.J  

...2fiO 
....277 

Simpson,  Judsre  Andrew. 
Simpson,  J.  M  
Simpson.  Wesley  
SKelton.W.  H  

...364 
...353 
.  .  .?91 
....339 

Willey,D.C  
Willey,  Stephen  
Winters,  S.  F  
WolfT.J.A  

...207 
....284 
.  .  .105 
.  223 

M 

P 

Palmer.  John  M  

....167 

Smith,  John  
Staples,  M.  W.,  M.  D.... 
Stewart,  Francis  
Stivers,  W.  M  

...430 
...21S 
...273 
...305 

Wood.John  

Y 

Madison,  James  
Malin,  Jeremiah  
Manners,  Hon.  C.  A  
Marion.  J.  N  
Martin,  B.  V.  B  
Martin,  J.H  
Matteson,  Joel  A  

...  31 
..238 
...363 
..375 
...249 
..240 
...147 

Payne,  Frederick  
Peabodv,  H.  A  
Peabody,  S.  M  
Peck,  Richard  
Phinney.J.  C  
Pierce.  Franklin  
Polk.  James  K  
Ponting.T.O  
Pope,  Mrs.  C.H  

....347 
....26S 
....439 
...343 
...  71 

....  r,9 
....443 

Stork,  Conrad  

T 

Taylor,  A.  J  

...312 
....222 

Yarnell,  H.  J  
Yates,  Richard  
Yockey,  Jacob  

...41B 
.  .  .159 
.  .  .M9 

INDEX. 


IFOIR/riR/.A.ZTS. 


Adams,  John  Q  
Adams,  Hon.  Joseph.. 

332 

Corzine.Mrs.  J.  A.  ... 
Cullom,  Shelby  M  

263 
174 

Harrison,  W.  H  

Altgeld,  John  P  

186 

Edwards,  Ninian  

us 

Jeirerson,  Thomas.. 

Arthur,  Chester  A  
Beveridge,  John  L  
Bissell,  William  H  
Bond.Shadrach  
Buchanan,  James  
Carlin,  Thomas  
Cleveland,  S.  Grover.  . 
Coles,  Edward  

98 
170 
150 
110 
74 
134 
102 
114 

Fillmore,  Millard  
Ford,  Thomas  
French,  Augustus  C.. 
Frink.W.S  
Garfield,  James  A  
Grant,  U.  S  
Hamilton,  John  M  

Bti 
138 

228 
ill 
86 

178 

Lewis,  Alfred  
Lewis,  Mrs.  E.  J  
Lincoln,  Abraham.. 
Madison,  James..  .. 
Matteson,  Joel  A.... 
Monroe,  James  
Oglesby,  Richard  J. 

Palmer.John  M 

PiercH.Frankiin 

Polk,  J.  K 

Keynolds.  John 

Staples,  M.  W.,  M.  D. . 

Staples,  Mrs.  M.  I 

Taylor,  Zachary 

Tyler,  John 

Van  Buren,  Martin.... 
Washington,  George. . 

Weiser,  John 

Wood,  John 

Yates,  Richard 


